Izzy and Zani
by CelticGrace
Summary: The feud between Zaeed and Vido has been ongoing for 30 years. Shepard has been caught in the middle since the beginning. Very AU. Spoilers for ME2 & ME3. Also a Shega romance. Rated M: Language, Violence
1. A Long Time Ago

**UPDATED 6/3/13 to accommodate details in Ch. 28  
A/N: As with all my stories, this one is AU. Very.  
Beta: pixelatrix  
Bioware owns all recognized characters; if you don't recognize them, they're probably mine.  
Possible trigger warning.**

* * *

"Pay attention, Isadora," Vido said to the girl standing unwillingly beside him. "Tonight, I am going to teach you a lesson. I'm going to show you what happens to those, like your uncle, who cross me."

Despite the warmth of the evening, Isadora shivered violently at his words.

"Do you understand what I'm going to do?" he asked.

"Yes, Daddy, but... it's Zani. He's your friend. And what about Mama? She wouldn't want you to do this, Daddy. Please don't hurt Zani." She regretted her words as soon as she'd said them. She flinched as Vido backhanded her across the face.

"You dare to bring your mother into this?" he snarled. "She died while an ungrateful brat like you is still around and you dare try to use her memory against me?"

Isadora said nothing else and after a moment more of glaring at her, Vido turned his attention to the man in front of him, being held by six others.

Zaeed struggled against his captors. He wanted nothing more than to take Isadora away from Vido, but he knew that would never happen now. "Do what you must to me," he said, "but for pity's sake, leave Izzy alone. She shouldn't be here to see this."

"She's ___my_ daughter, not yours, Massani, and I'll do anything with her I damn well please."

Zaeed snorted derisively. "That's rich coming from you. This is the first time you've even acknowledged her existence since Carolina died." He looked at his beloved niece, trembling beside her father. "Close your eyes, Izzy. I don't want you to watch." He watched her as she nodded slowly and her long dark lashes came to rest on her tear-stained cheeks. Then he looked back at Vido, who didn't seem to care that his parental authority had been ignored. "Do it."

A shot rang out and Isadora heard a body hit the ground. Her eyes flew open and she screamed as Vido started dragging her back to the Blue Suns compound, followed by the six other men. She panicked and did the only thing she could think of: she sank her teeth into Vido's hand. He instantly released his hold on her wrist, but his other hand, still holding his gun, came up and for the second time that night, he hit her in the face.

She saw stars as she staggered away, ducking around the hands that tried to grab her, running as fast as she could away from Vido's cruelty. A few moments later, she heard another shot and felt a white-hot pain in her left shoulder. She fell to her knees as a wave of dizziness overcame her. She heard raised voices, back in the alley. It sounded as if Vido was yelling at one of his men. She flattened to the ground when she heard a third shot. She rested for a moment, listening for footsteps, but when none came after her, she staggered to her feet and stumbled on until she reached a small church, one she'd passed occasionally but never entered. Praying that the priest might still be awake, she banged on the door with her right hand until her strength gave out and she collapsed in a heap on the steps of the church.

* * *

When she woke, Isadora was nearly blinded by bright lights reflecting off of stark white walls. She shivered. It reminded her of the ___interrogation _room in the basement of the Blue Suns base. She slowly looked around as she carefully sat up. A man sat beside her bed, watching her. She immediately thought she ___was_ in the base and the man was set as her guard, though he didn't look like any of Vido's men. She scrambled to the far corner of the bed, hugging her knees to her chest with her good arm. She noticed the gashes in her cheek had been stitched and her bullet wound mended (her left arm was in a sling), but that did nothing to quell her apprehension.

The man frowned, looking deeply concerned at her behavior. "Be still, my child," he said in a soothing voice. "I will not harm you. My name is Father Tobias. I found you lying in a pool of blood on the front steps of my church last night."

She stared at him, wide-eyed and silent.

"Why are you frightened, child? Do you know who hurt you?"

She nodded and then shook her head.

Tobias looked mildly amused at her indecision. "You do but you don't? Does this have anything to do with the two men the police found shot in the alley not far from here?"

She nodded again and began to cry. "They were mad and hurt Zani," she said softly.

"Who is Zani?" the priest asked. "Is it you?"

Isadora shook her head.

"One of the men in the alley?"

She nodded and cried harder. Tobias reached a hand out to her and she cringed.

He pulled his hand back and looked concerned. "Where are your parents, child? Surely they must be wondering where you are."

"Mama is dead," she said. "D-daddy... Daddy is the one who shot Zani. I ran away."

"And the other man in the alley, the other one who was shot I mean, was he the one who shot you?"

"I... don't know." She took a deep breath before continuing. "D-daddy shot Zani. I tried to get away and Daddy hit me. Then I ran. Somebody shot me. I fell. I heard Daddy yelling at someone and then he shot them and left. But nobody came for me. I'm glad. I won't go back."

Finally Tobias asked the question Isadora had been dreading. "What is your name?"

She hesitated slightly before answering, finally deciding to trust him. "Isadora Santiago."

His eyebrows raised a fraction of an inch. "Vido Santiago's daughter? No wonder you are so frightened." He looked alarmed for a moment. "You said your mother is dead, Isadora. Did... your father didn't kill her, did he?"

She shook her head. "No. He loved her very much. Zani said she got very sick about a month before I was born and couldn't fight it. She died when I was born."

"That's terrible," Tobias murmured.

"I think Daddy resented me because I lived when Mama didn't. They were high school sweethearts. But Zani never resented me, even though she was the only family he had."

"He was her brother?"

She nodded. "He was her older brother. I think that's why Daddy made me go with them, why he tried to make me watch him kill Zani, because he hates me. I bet he's glad to be rid of me."

He shook his head sadly. "He may be your biological father, Isadora, but Vido certainly never treated you like a daughter from what I can tell."

"Zani was the one who always took care of me."

"Zani... was that Zaeed Massani?" he asked carefully. "The one Vido started the Blue Suns with?"

She nodded. "They got into a fight, I don't know what it was about. D-Vido turned on Zani and..." She crawled across the bed and into Tobias' lap, where she dissolved into tears again. He carefully wrapped his arms around her and held her until the sobbing stopped. She looked at him and asked quietly, "Where do I go now?"

The priest looked troubled for a moment before he smiled. "You won't have to go anywhere. The Lord will forgive me for this one lie I must tell if it protects one of His innocent children."

Isadora looked at him curiously. "What are you going to do?"

"You will come and live with me in my church," he said.

"Really? Thank you, Father."

The doctor came in then. "Tobias, I trust you know something about this child now?"

The priest nodded. "I know enough, Dr. Garcia. She comes from an abusive home and ran away after her father attacked her last night. She is now under my protection."

The woman smiled grimly. "Understood. Should anyone come looking for a child of her description, I'll send them on to the hospital. After all, wounds like that on a body this size, I doubt anyone would have expected her to make it far. Likely would expect she was found by the police, like the men in the alley, and taken to the larger hospital, not brought to a clinic like mine."

Isadora looked at the doctor. "I'm not at the hospital?"

Dr. Garcia smiled. "No sweetheart, mine is just a little clinic for the poor of the city to come when they are sick or mildly injured."

"I thought it best to bring you here, as I knew some horrible tragedy had happened to bring you to my doorstep in the middle of the night," Tobias said to Isadora. "And unfortunately, I was all too right," he added sadly. "But no matter, when the good doctor says you are well enough, you'll come with me."

Thirty-six hours later, Isadora left the clinic with Tobias. She quickly took a liking to her new home. Tobias introduced her to his congregation as his orphaned niece, explaining that his brother and sister-in-law had recently died. When she told him that she felt guilty about his having to lie for her, he just smiled and said he'd rather have to lie 1000 times than send her back to Vido or see her living on the streets.

* * *

___Nine Years Later..._

"For the last time, I said no, Pritchard." Isadora shoved past the man standing in her way. "I'm not joining the Reds. You've been pestering me for two years. Give up."

Pritchard caught her wrist and pulled her roughly into an alley. "Oh didn't I tell you, sweetheart? I'm not with the Reds anymore. And this ain't a request. ___No one_ says no to Vido, especially not his own brat."

She stopped struggling against him instantly. "What did you say to me?" she asked, her eyes narrowed.

"You heard. He's got a message for you as well." Pritchard threw her against the wall, where she crumpled to the ground. He pushed a button on his omni-tool and said, "Go ahead, boss."

"Don't try to run again, Isadora," Vido said. "You remember what happened last time. You cannot escape me, little one. You belong with me, running the Suns."

"Go to hell, jackass," she said coldly.

Vido seemed not to hear her as his next words were directed at Pritchard. "Bring her to me. Alive. Oh, and Pritchard? Don't mess this up." The connection was severed.

Pritchard had an evil glint in his eye as he walked over and dragged Isadora to her feet. "Know what? We're going to have some fun together, 'fore I take you to Vido," he said, leaning in and forcefully kissing her as one hand pushed up her skirt.

She struggled hard to get clear of him and he pulled out a nasty-looking switchblade and held it against her throat. She stilled instantly.

"Good girl. Now let's play nice or Vido's not gonna get what he wants," Pritchard snarled.

"Oi! Get off her!" a voice yelled from the end of the alley. Isadora's heart skipped when she recognized the voice; it was her best friend James.

Pritchard turned so quickly, the knife sliced into Isadora's neck, and she fell to the ground once again as he sized up his target. She quickly scrambled to her feet as Pritchard and James began fighting.

"James, be careful; he has a knife," she yelled.

"So do I, Lola," James replied.

"___Mierda_." She tried to pull the two men apart. She pushed James away and he staggered back. But she felt a hand on her wrist again as Pritchard spun her around and plunged the knife into her side.

"You're too much trouble," he growled. "I'm out."

"You're a dead man," she said weakly as she fell to the ground, James running to her side. "No one crosses Vido and-"

Hours later, she woke and once again found herself in Dr. Garcia's clinic. James sat by her bed.

"Hey ___querida_," he said with a small smile when he noticed she was awake. "I was so damn worried about you. But I think you saved my life."

She smiled. "That's what I was going for." She glanced to the corner of the room where Tobias and James' uncle Emilio stood with a man in an Alliance uniform. "Who's that?"

James shook his head. "I dunno. They were here when I woke up. I think the Alliance guy knows either the ___Padre_ or ___mi tío_."

The three men turned then and made their way to the bed. Tobias smiled when he saw Isadora and James talking. "Good, you're both awake," he said. "It's obvious Vido is going to try to get to you, Izzy, now that he knows where you are. And James, Emilio and I figure that you are also in danger as long as Vido is around. So, if you're both agreeable, we believe we've found a solution." He nodded towards the Alliance official.

The stranger stepped forward. "My name is Admiral Hackett..."


	2. So You're Not Dead

**A/N: Wow. Thanks for the reviews, fav and follows!  
Beta: pixelatrix  
Bioware owns all recognized characters. If you don't recognize them, they're probably mine.**

* * *

_Thirteen Years Later..._

_The son of a bitch was telling the truth_. Shepard stopped walking so suddenly, her armory officer slammed into her.

"Sorry, Commander," Jacob said, steadying them both with a hand on each of her arms. "Is everything alright?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine," she said with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes as she turned to face him and her second-in-command, who was glaring at them both.

"Problem, Miranda?" Shepard asked coldly. She was in no mood to put up with another of the woman's lectures, particularly the one regarding the Commander's complete refusal to wear anything resembling a Cerberus uniform.

"No, nothing," the Cerberus biotic said, equally coldly. "So why are we stopping here?"

Shepard rolled her eyes. "We're not. The mercenary over there?" She gestured towards a man at the end of the airlock. "He's... well, in any case, I'd like to talk to him alone. You two go on ahead and meet with Aria. If I'm not there when you're done, go to the markets and get any supplies we don't have. This could take awhile." _That's a fucking understatement_, she thought to herself.

Miranda looked as if she was going to start arguing but was dragged away by Jacob before she could do more than open her mouth, so she ended up looking like a fish gasping for air.

* * *

Shepard stood in the shadows and watched the mercenary work over his batarian prisoner. She followed silently behind as he took the alien to his contact and made the trade-off. But when she started to follow him towards Afterlife, he turned suddenly and she walked right into him.

A second later, he had her in a choke hold, her back pressed against his chest, his pistol pressing into her cheek.

"Carrie died. Thirty-one years ago. _Who the_ _fuck are you_?" he growled.

_Carrie? Oh shit_. She'd forgotten how strong he was, and all of that strength was currently pressing against her throat. She clawed at his arm with her hands as she squeaked out, "Zani, it's me. It's Izzy."

* * *

"I really look that much like my mother?" Izzy asked as she sat across from Zaeed in a booth in Afterlife ten minutes later.

"You could be her twin," the mercenary replied. "Except you have _his_ eyes."

"Yeah. My least favorite feature by far," she said with a small smile. "So. You're not dead."

"Right back at ya."

"You really thought I was dead all these years, Zani?"

Zaeed sighed. "Yes. I saw him shoot you, Izzy. I saw you fall. But that was the last thing I saw before I lost consciousness. I never saw you get up again. And then when you never showed up in the hospital..."

"Wait just one fucking minute. Vido was the one who shot me?"

"Yes."

"Then who was the other guy he shot?"

Zaeed shrugged. "One of his men who he decided was expendable." He looked at her. "Who the bloody hell is Carrie Shepard? I'll assume Carrie would be for your mother. How did you know that's what we used to call her? But who is Shepard?"

"I... didn't actually. But yeah, it's for Mama. Anyway, remember St. Mark's? That little church a few blocks from the original Suns base?"

"Yeah, I used to go in there every once in awhile. Knew the priest fairly well. Nice guy."

"Well, he was the one who found me that night. That's where I ended up. That's where Shepard comes from; it's Tobias' last name."

"I see." Zaeed took a long pull from the whiskey bottle in front of him. "I found him, Izzy. He slipped through my fingers so many times, but I've finally got him."

She didn't need to hear a name to know who her uncle was talking about. The bitterness in his voice said it all.

"He tracked me down a few times," she said quietly. "Found out I'd never left. By then, he'd changed tactics. He apparently finally saw me as useful because he wanted me to join him in running the Suns."

"Bastard," Zaeed muttered. "Knowing you, that was not welcome news."

Izzy laughed. "No, it really wasn't. But that's how I ended up in the Alliance."

Zaeed narrowed his eyes. "_How_ did you end up in the Alliance?"

"Tobias remembered a story you'd told him once about the First Contact War, how you'd saved the life of a second lieutenant, and how he'd said if you ever needed him for anything, to call on him."

"Hackett."

Izzy nodded. "By then, he was an admiral. Head of the fucking fleet now, last I heard. So Tobias took a chance, told him what happened, the whole story, and he agreed to take James and me. Besides Tobias, James, his uncle Emilio and Hackett are the only people who know who I really am."

"You sure about that?"

"Absolutely. I never told anyone else, and those four I trust with my life."

"So who's James?"

Izzy rolled her eyes. "You're not gonna go all protectively parental on me are you?"

Zaeed chuckled. "Maybe. We'll see. Answer the question."

"He's my best friend. Has been since we were ten."

"Just friends?"

"Yes," she said firmly. "Just friends."

"If you say so," Zaeed said with a knowing smile.

"Anyway," Izzy said. "As much as I love pissing off Miranda, I'm not stupid enough to do the same to Aria, so I guess I'd better go talk to her. You want to tag along?"

"I'm not exactly at the top of Aria's Favorite People List."

"Is that a no?"

Zaeed smirked. "Let's just say my day's not complete without pissing her off and I haven't quite gotten around to doing it today."

Izzy laughed. "I missed you, Zani."

"I missed you too, baby girl."


	3. Not My Little Girl Anymore

**Beta: pixelatrix  
****Thanks for the review :)  
Bioware owns all recognized characters. If you don't recognize them, they're probably mine.**

* * *

_This __is__ going to take a lot of getting used to_, Zaeed thought as he watched Izzy talking to the chatty salarian doctor they'd just picked up in the Quarantine Zone. He was having a hard time getting over the idea that Izzy was no longer the little girl with curly dark brown pigtails he'd watched over and protected since birth. Hell, he was still getting used to the idea that she was even alive. But on top of it all, she was... Commander Shepard.

He'd followed the legendary Commander's career, seen the news reports and celebrations when she'd saved Elysium, watched her become the first human Spectre. He'd mourned like everyone else when the Normandy was reported destroyed and Shepard presumed dead. All the times he'd seen her on the vids, he'd always thought she looked somewhat familiar, but it hadn't been until they'd been face-to-face outside Afterlife that he'd realized that she looked exactly like his sister.

He had been impressed watching Izzy as they fought through the gang-infested Quarantine Zone. At the first cluster of mercs, he'd had to resist the urge to pull her out of the fight. That urge disappeared quickly. She was a biotic (where the hell had that come from?), but she'd also trained as a sniper and she was a damn good one. And the way she'd taken on the batarians holding the doctor's assistant, Zaeed would never dare admit this to anyone, let alone Izzy herself, but she'd reminded him a lot of Vido. Before he'd turned psychotic.

Someone cleared their throat and pulled the mercenary from his reverie. He looked up to see Izzy was standing right in front of him with an amused expression on her face. He was going to either kill or kiss the person who taught her to move that silently. It sure as hell hadn't been him.

"What's so goddamn funny?" he growled.

She shook her head. "It's nothing. So, ready to go become a freelancer in your own fucking gang?"

He rolled his eyes. "Let's get this over with."

* * *

"This was a bad idea," Zaeed muttered as he, Izzy and Mordin exited the transport near the staging area for the battle against Archangel.

"Always so negative," Izzy quipped. But she didn't look all that optimistic either.

They walked into a room off of the main corridor and Zaeed stopped dead in his tracks.

"Fuck, that's the second time in sixteen hours I've done that," Izzy griped as she rubbed her head where it had hit Zaeed's armored shoulder. "What's wrong now?"

"Tarak," he said. "This is going to... make things complicated."

"Yes, because we were cruising on Easy Street before," she said sarcastically. "Who's Tarak?"

He gestured to a batarian in Blue Suns armor on the other side of the room, who was yelling orders to a group of men behind him.

"You don't remember him?" Zaeed asked quietly, making sure Mordin was out of earshot.

Izzy shook her head. "No. Everyone I remember was human, even the ones that came after me years later."

"The 'disagreement' that led to that night in the alley, it was about the hiring of batarians. Vido thought they were cheap labor; I didn't care how cheap they came, I thought they were dangerous to have around. Anyway, Tarek was his first hire and the _reason_ for that argument."

"Shit."

"That's not what's complicated. Not exactly anyway," Zaeed said. "When I started tracking the Suns, I ran into Tarak on several occasions. At one point, he captured me, was supposed to take me to Vido. But in the end he let me go. To this day, I still have no idea why."

"And now we're fighting against him," Izzy said.

"Exactly. I owe the bastard my life, Izzy."

"I can get Jacob if you want to sit this one out," she said as Mordin came over and handed her a data pad he'd found in another room. She looked at the salarian. "What's this?"

"Information Aria T'Loak will be interested in," he said. "Plans by gangs to eliminate her when finished with Archangel."

"Let me see that," Zaeed said, swiping the data pad from Izzy's hand before she could read it. After a moment, he looked at her, a determined look set on his face. "That complication we were discussing? No longer an issue."

The commander smiled. "Good. Didn't want to have to replace you anyway." She glanced to the corner where Tarak was still barking orders. "You want to talk to him?"

"Sure," Zaeed ground out. "Actually, I do have one question for him."

"Play nice," Izzy warned. "Otherwise, we're screwed."

He nodded and they made their way across the room. Tarak turned as they reached him.

"What the fuck do you- Massani?" A look of genuine surprise crossed the batarian's face as he looked at Zaeed. Then he saw Izzy. "Holy shit. Isadora?"

"Shut up, Tarak," Zaeed snarled. "I just need one question answered and we'll get out of your... hair."

Izzy stifled a giggle.

"Alright, keep your armor on, Massani," Tarak said. "What do you want to know?"

"Does Vido know she's alive?"

"No."

"He knew I was dead?" Izzy asked.

"Christ, girl, everyone knew you were dead," Zaeed said. "Or Commander Shepard was anyway."

"But this is Vido we're talking about," she retorted.

"Exactly," Tarak said. "Like everyone else in the galaxy, he knew about the Normandy supposedly being destroyed and you going missing. But paranoid bastard that he is, he needed proof for himself. He thought you'd maybe faked your death to escape him. So he went to the memorial service on the Citadel. That was all the proof he needed that it was all real. He said nobody could have faked that kind of emotion. Especially your pilot and that other guy. Vega or something."

Izzy couldn't speak. Her emotions were warring between throwing up at the thought of Vido being at her memorial service and wanting to hug the shit out of Joker and James. She felt Zaeed firmly grip the back of her neck with one hand, her arm with the other, and steer her away as he muttered, "Good luck, Tarak."

* * *

"Holy shit. I know who Archangel is," Izzy said twenty minutes later as she, Zaeed and Mordin crossed the bridge between the staging area and Archangel's hideout.

"What? How the... fuck! Watch it, I-Shepard!" Zaeed yelled as a bullet came from above them and hit Izzy in the shoulder. He shoved her out of the way, behind a pillar. "What the hell do you mean you know who Archangel is?"

"Turian. Sniper. And this was a concussive round. It's gotta be..." she muttered. She ducked under Zaeed's arm and back out into the open. "Come on. The faster we get across this bridge, the faster I can prove I'm right."

For the second time that day, she reminded Zaeed of Vido.

"See? Told you I was right," she said when they finally reached the top of Archangel's base. The turian who had been giving Omega's gangs so much trouble for so long ended up being one of Izzy's old crew.

"You never actually said who you thought it was," Zaeed pointed out.

Izzy rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Point is, I was right. Zaeed Massani, Mordin Solus, this is Garrus Vakarian," she said with a smile.

No one was smiling an hour later. The gangs had been utterly obliterated but Tarak had nearly killed Izzy and Garrus with his gunship. The turian had been his target, but she'd taken a few hits in trying to pull him to safety.

Zaeed nearly wore a hole in the carpet outside the Normandy's med-bay, pacing while he waited for word, good or bad, about Izzy's condition. If... no! _When_ she made it out of this, he was going to have a long talk with her about unnecessary risks in battle.

The door opened and Mordin walked out looking... happier than he had when he'd gone in. "Surgery successful for both. Will both make full recovery." He turned back and whispered, "Also, Shepard's secret safe with me," before walking to the elevator.

Zaeed wondered what the hell he was talking about but didn't dwell on it as he walked into the med-bay. Garrus appeared to be asleep in one bed, while Izzy lay on her stomach on another bed across the room. She smiled at Zaeed as he sat in a chair next to her.

"Hey."

"'_Hey_'?" he repeated incredulously. "You nearly died, again, and all you can think to say '_hey_'?"

She laughed and then grimaced. "Fuck. That hurt. Sorry, Zani. I'm not good with this whole family thing. Not used to it yet, ya know?"

He smirked. "Yeah, I know the feeling."

"He knows by the way," she said.

He raised an eyebrow. "Mordin you mean? So he said. But uh, _what_ does he know?"

"He knows who uh... _we_ are. Who _I_ am."

"How the-"

"He's former STG. Those guys know everything."

"Shit."

"It's not a bad thing. I trust him."

"You trust too easily, Izzy."

She shook her head the best she could in her position. "No, Zani, I really don't."


	4. Blue Suns and Exploding Ships

**Beta: none  
****Thanks for the review****s ****and new follow**** :)  
Bioware owns all recognized characters. If you don't recognize them, they're probably mine.**

* * *

"Are you stupid, Izzy? You're not going on that damn ship without me," Zaeed said.

"But-"

He shook his head. "Look, how many of those Suns do you think won't recognize you? Not as Commander Shepard, but as Isadora Santiago. And your turian? He's not going to take it well if and when he finds out about your connection to the Suns. Especially after what happened on Omega. The middle of a prison ship full of heavily-armed mercs is _not_ the time to have that conversation."

Izzy rolled her eyes. "Dammit. Using fucking logic against me. Fine. But next mission, I'm taking Garrus. No arguments."

Zaeed shrugged. "Fine."

As they headed to the elevator with Mordin, Miranda came up to them.

"You're not coming with, so back off," Izzy said.

Miranda glared at her. "Is there some reason you refuse to take myself or Jacob on missions, Commander?"

"What the hell do you think?" Izzy spat out. "I. Don't. Trust. Cerberus. When are you going to get that through your thick skull? Jacob gets it. And I respect him for understanding that. So why don't you get him to explain it to you while I'm gone?"

She turned abruptly and stormed into the elevator, Mordin and Zaeed on her heels. The second the door was closed, Zaeed doubled over with laughter.

"Shepard, I think I love you," Joker said with a laugh over Izzy's personal comm. "That was fucking brilliant."

Izzy blew a kiss to the security camera, because she knew he was watching, and grinned.

* * *

"I'm not giving up my guns. Period." Izzy raised her pistol. From her peripherals, she could see that Zaeed and Mordin had done the same.

The turian merc who had given the order looked as if he was contemplating the odds of survival if he decided to shoot her.

"Everyone, calm down," another turian said as he walked up behind his men. "Men, we're more than capable of handling three armed guests." He turned to Izzy. "Commander, I'm Warden Kuril, the administrator of this prison. If you'll follow me, we'll make sure the funds have cleared and get Jack out of cryo."

Izzy nodded and holstered her pistol. "So far so good," she muttered as Zaeed and Mordin came up on either side of her. "But keep your guard up."

"Preachin' to the choir," Zaeed hissed.

Kuril stopped where a smaller hallway split from the main corridor. "Follow this hall to Out-processing. I'll meet you there in a few minutes."

Izzy wasn't sure how adept at reading turians Zaeed and Mordin were, but she'd spent enough time with Garrus to know that there was something off about the look on the warden's face as he walked away from them.

When they stepped into the "out-processing" room five minutes later, she knew what it was.

"Sorry, Commander," Kuril said over the loudspeaker. "Cerberus may have paid a fortune for Jack's release, but your father paid a great deal more for _your_ capture."

"Son of a bitch," Zaeed snarled.

"So if you'd be so kind, _Isadora_," the warden continued, "please step into the crate and we'll get this over with. Massani and the doctor will be returned to the Normandy unharmed."

"Go. To. Hell." Izzy yelled as she ducked behind a desk. Zaeed and Mordin did the same on the other side of the room.

Half an hour later, Kuril was dead, along with the guards and most of the prisoners, and the trio found themselves in an argument with the clearly unbalanced Jack.

"You come here in a Cerberus ship and expect me to just leave with you?" the heavily-tattooed woman asked. "Are you stupid?"

"OK, that's it. The next person who says that to me gets a broken jaw," Izzy said, glaring back at Zaeed. She turned back to Jack. "I just saved your fucking life and you're arguing with me?"

Jack scoffed as she looked back at the guard Izzy had shot in the throat. "He was already dead. He just didn't know it yet."

"If she won't come willingly, we could always tie her up," Zaeed said.

"I'd like to see you try, old man," Jack snarled.

"Suggest you cooperate," Mordin said to Jack as Izzy blocked Zaeed from advancing on her. "People who get on the wrong side of Shepard not destined for long life."

"Something we have in common," Jack said with a smirk. "Alright, I'll come with you, Shepard, on one condition."

Izzy crossed her arms over her chest. "Spill it."

"Your ship's got information on other Cerberus operations, right? I want to look at those files."

"You won't hear me complaining if you want to go up against Cerberus," Izzy said with a grin. "You've got yourself a deal. Now let's get the fuck off this ship before we get barbequed."


	5. Confessions and Conflictions

**Beta: ****pixelatrix****  
****Thanks for the review****s ****:)  
Bioware owns all recognized characters. If you don't recognize them, they're probably mine.**

* * *

Garrus was... Izzy couldn't think of a word strong enough to describe the look on her friend's face after she told him about her connection to the Blue Suns. She and Zaeed had gotten into a massive argument, again, about what he perceived as her easy trust in others. She'd stormed out and gone straight to Garrus. She had told him everything.

It had been twenty minutes since she'd stopped talking, and Garrus still hadn't said a word.

"You OK?" she asked, tentatively reaching out to touch his hand.

The turian looked up immediately, surprise etched on his face as if he'd forgotten Izzy was in the room. "Come on. I need a drink," he said. He held a hand out to her as he stood. She took it and he pulled her to her feet before turning and walking out of the Forward Battery towards the observation lounge.

"So."

"I'm sorry, Garrus," Izzy said as she poured herself a scotch and sat next to him at the bar. He had the bottle of turian brandy she'd bought him on Omega sitting in front of him.

"Sorry for what, Shepard? You're the innocent one in all this," he said.

"I... I'm sorry I never told you before."

He shook his head. "I totally understand. Seriously."

"Then what was with the angry and the silence back there?" she asked.

"I wasn't angry at you, Shepard. I promise."

"Good," she said with a small smile. "Because at the moment, Zaeed is extremely pissed at me, and I've got no one else to talk to."

Garrus turned to look at her. "What did you do now?"

Izzy huffed. "Why is it always something _I_ did? Why can't it be that other people are irrationally paranoid bastards that don't trust anyone and get pissed that I do?"

"Irrationally paranoid, am I?" Zaeed growled from the doorway.

Izzy spun on her barstool to face him. "Yes, yes you are."

"He's got a point, Shepard. He's earned the right to not trust anyone," Garrus said.

Izzy rolled her eyes. "That's all very well and good, but why does that mean that I'm not allowed to trust anyone? And for fuck's sake, it's not like I trust every son of a bitch I come across."

"This isn't about him," Zaeed said, nodding to Garrus.

"I know. It's about Mordin."

"What's wrong with Mordin?" Garrus asked.

"Nothing at all. Zaeed just doesn't think I should have been so quick to trust him. And he flipped out when he found out that Mordin already knew who I _really_ am."

"Who you... for fuck's sake Izzy," Zaeed said. "You are Commander Shepard. Period. There's no 'really' about it."

"That will only be true when Vido is dead and stops haunting me."

"Speaking of which," Zaeed said. "That's why I came to find you. We're at Zorya."

* * *

"This should be entertaining," Vido said smugly from where he stood on the balcony above the factory entrance. "After twenty years, the prodigal daughter returns to the fold."

"I'll say again what I said when I was 18," Izzy growled. "But since you're old and your hearing's probably not so good anymore, I'll say it slower, so you understand. Go. To. Hell. Jackass."

"I should take offense to that," Zaeed muttered to Garrus. "I'm three years older than he is."

"You don't want to cross me, Isadora," Vido warned.

"Blah blah blah," Izzy said. "You keep saying that, yet the only one who's 'crossed' you and is dead, is Pritchard. I should say thanks, because he was a fucking creep, but you're the one who set him on me in the first place, so fuck off. But, you'll notice that Zaeed and I are _both_ still standing here, even after you made similar threats in the past. Oh, and that was a nice touch with Kuril. Too bad he underestimated the angry bitch with biotics."

"Guess what, sweetheart? You're on _my_ playground now."

"Your point?"

Vido growled as he turned to his men. "Bring Isadora to me. Kill the other two. And this time, make sure Massani and Archangel are actually-"

An explosion sent Vido and most of his men hurtling back into the factory. Zaeed had opened the gas valves connected to the pipes running between the balcony and the door. And Vido hadn't noticed as Izzy and Garrus lined up perfect shots before sending two bullets simultaneously into the pipe directly under his feet.

Between them, the trio made quick work of the mercs that poured through the now-open door of the factory as Vido limped away with the remainder of his men.

Izzy jumped up and ran through the door, determined to catch Vido.

"Oh fuck. There she goes again," Garrus muttered as he and Zaeed followed after her. "I _hate_ when she does that."

Zaeed nodded. "You and me both."

* * *

"Where's Izzy?" Zaeed asked ten minutes later as he and Garrus ducked into a doorway to avoid a heavy mech. They'd caught up to her and had been making their way through the burning factory, but now Zaeed didn't see her anywhere.

"Don't know," the turian said. "She was right behind me two minutes ago."

Zaeed tried the comm. "Izzy? Where are you?"

All they heard was static.

Then they heard a voice, but it wasn't Izzy. It was Vido. "I warned her not to cross me, Massani. Her arrogance was her downfall."

"What the hell have you done to her, Vido?" Zaeed snarled.

There was a bark of laughter on the other end of the comm. "I didn't do anything to her. She did it to herself. You'd better hurry up and find her before she's turned to ash."

As the heavy mech finally exploded in a shower of fire and metal, Zaeed turned to Garrus. Not knowing if Vido was still listening, Zaeed didn't want to give up any tactical information by speaking. So he indicated to Garrus that they should split up; he would push ahead further into the factory and Garrus would retrace their path back to the entrance. The turian nodded his agreement and headed back the way they'd come.

As Zaeed reached the back of the factory, Garrus contacted him on the comm. "I found her. But, I need your help. She's trapped under a pile of rubble and unconscious."

"Shit," Zaeed muttered.

Then Vido broke through again. "Time to make a decision, Massani. You can easily walk through that door and you can try to kill me, or you can go back and save your precious _Izzy_." He spat out her name like it was poison.

"I _will_ kill you, Vido. Make no mistake about that," Zaeed said as he turned and started racing back through the factory towards Garrus and Izzy. "Your day of reckoning will come. But it won't be today."


	6. Revenge and Unintended Accusations

**A/N: Thanks to pixelatrix for all the help on this chapter!  
****Thanks for the review**** :)  
Bioware owns all recognized characters. If you don't recognize them, they're probably mine.**

* * *

"What happened, Izzy?"

Even with her eyes closed, Izzy could feel Zaeed glaring at her.

"Dammit, Izzy. It may have been twenty-two years since I last had to wake you up when you didn't want to be, but I still know when you're fake sleeping."

She barely opened one eye. "Quit glaring at me and I'll wake up. Maybe."

He growled. "What. Happened. On. Zorya?"

"You're not gonna like it."

"Of course I'm not going to bloody like it. Vido's still alive and you're in the med-bay for the second time in a week."

She sighed as she gingerly sat up more fully on the bed. "You and Garrus were ahead of me. I thought I saw Vido and-"

"And ran off alone again?"

"No, actually. I realized it _wasn't_ Vido so I turned back to follow you guys. You were already pretty far ahead of me. And then..."

"Go on."

"One of Vido's men grabbed me. I tried to use my biotics to fight him off but he wasn't about to let go, so we both ended up slamming into the wall behind him. The force of the impact caused the ceiling to collapse and I got trapped." She looked at Zaeed. "I'm sorry, Zani. It's my fault Vido's still alive. Though I have to admit, I half expected you to go after him anyway."

"I think he did too, at first," he said quietly. "But you being alive is much more important to me than Vido being dead."

* * *

The moment Dr. Chakwas let her out of the med-bay, Izzy went to her quarters to check her messages. Most were junk but one from an unknown sender caught her eye.

_From: (Unknown Sender)  
To: C. Shepard  
Subj: Important. Please Read.  
I told you not to cross me, Isadora._

"Son of a bitch," she muttered. She looked at the time stamp. It had been sent six hours after she had escaped Zorya.

Then, she noticed one from James. She ignored the rest and clicked on it.

_From: J. Vega  
To: C. Shepard  
Subj: We Need to Talk  
Lola,  
Hackett told me you were alive. I can't quite wrap my head around it yet, but he wouldn't lie about something like that, so I know it's true.  
Something happened. We need to talk. Face-to-face, or at least on vid-chat. ASAP.  
Trust me. It's very important.  
-James_

Anxious at what the hell could be so important, she sent an immediate reply:

_From: C. Shepard  
To: J. Vega  
Subj: re: We Need to Talk  
Vid-chat is probably our best option.  
I'm up, all hours. Even if it's middle of the night, send the request. Joker will let me know if I'm asleep.  
-Lola_

The console beeped twenty seconds later, indicating she had a request for a video chat. She hit the button.

"Well that was... immediate," she said when James appeared on the screen. "I've been told that saying 'hey' in a conversation like this pisses people off, but that could just be Zaeed. So... hey."

James smiled at her. "Hey Lola. Wait. Zaeed's alive?"

She nodded. "Yup. He's on the ship."

"Good. You're... Lola, sit down."

She sat in her desk chair and backed up against the wall so she could still see him. "What's wrong, James?"

"I don't... I don't know the best way to say this, Lola, so I'm just going to come out and say it. I got a message from Emilio last night. He said St. Mark's was firebombed yesterday."

Izzy sat motionless in the chair. "Is... what about Tobias?"

James couldn't meet her eyes.

"James? Talk to me. Please."

"I'm sorry, Lola. He wasn't in the church, but the police found him in the alley where Pritchard attacked you. He'd been shot in the head."

Izzy felt the sting of tears behind her eyes. "Goddamn him," she whispered. "I'm going to kill that son of a bitch if it's the last thing I do."

"Lola?"

She looked up to see James looking at her with concern. "It was Vido, James."

"Vido? How do you know?"

She told him what happened on Zorya, and the message she'd received. "It's entirely my fault Tobias is dead. If I'd just..."

"It wasn't your fault, _querida_. You didn't do anything wrong. Vido is the one to blame."

She nodded slowly then tried to smile, which she was positive came out as a grimace. "I miss you, James. H-how are you?"

He shook his head. "I miss you too Lola, but... you don't have to act like you're OK. I know you're not."

She glared at him. "Just answer the damn question."

He held up his hands in surrender. "Fine. I'm fine. Really wishing this wasn't just a fucking video chat."

"Me too."

He tried again. "You shouldn't be alone. Please promise me you'll go find Zaeed. Tell him what happened. He'll want to know about Tobias anyway."

"Yeah. He was _surprised _when I told him exactly how we ended up as marines. He also refuses to believe we were just friends."

James smirked. "Of course. So you didn't tell him? Wait, what do you mean 'were'?"

"Is there anything to tell? I was dead for two years."

"Yes, Lola. What's that line from that really old vid that you made me watch about fifty-thousand times when we were kids?"

She responded automatically. "'Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for awhile.'"

"That's the one," he said with a grin. "Not that I didn't believe it before, but now I _know_ it's really you. Only you would instantly pull that line out of thin air."

"_Pendejo_."

He chuckled. "So are you going to tell him?"

"Not yet."

"Chicken."

"Soon. I promise."

"_Te amo_, Lola."

"_Te amo_, James," she said with a smile. "Keep in touch, OK? I doubt we'll be able to do video chat often but at least send me messages as often as you can."

"Is that an order, Commander?" he teased.

"Bite me, Lieutenant."

He quirked an eyebrow and grinned. "Is _that_ an order?"

She rolled her eyes. "Say hi to Emilio when you talk to him again. And tell him I said thanks."

"Will do. See ya, Lola. Be careful."

Izzy found Zaeed sitting in the mess, talking to Garrus. The look on her face stopped them in mid-conversation.

"What's wrong?" Zaeed asked.

She shook her head and started walking away. He reached out and grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a chair.

"Oh hell no. You don't get to come in here looking like the world just fell out from under your feet and then bloody walk away without saying anything. Sit. Talk."

She shook her head again. "Not... I can't. Not here."

Garrus looked at her. "I can go away. I've got work I can-"

"No, I'll just end up telling you later anyway. I'd rather only do it once."

She got up and the two men followed her to the elevator and up to the first floor.

"So what's going on?" Zaeed asked as soon as they were standing in her quarters.

Izzy suddenly found herself unable to speak. She brought up the video chat with James, letting it tell the story for her. She paused it when James had finished telling her about Tobias.

"Damn," Garrus muttered.

Zaeed looked as if he wanted to shoot something. Or a very specific someone. "He's got some bloody nerve," he growled. He looked at Izzy. "Are you alright?"

"No. I'm not. But guess what? This wouldn't have happened if you had just shot the fucker on Zorya," she said.

Eyes blazing, he opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it and stormed out.

As she heard him slam his fist into the elevator wall, Izzy slid down the wall to sit on the floor and started sobbing into her knees. Garrus knelt beside her and gathered her in his arms.

"Fuck! Why the fuck did I say that? I didn't mean it, to blame him," she said, her voice muffled against his chest. "Damn it. He's the only family I have left. I can't loose... he hates me. Just like Vido."

He gently lifted her chin so she was forced to look at him. "Zaeed doesn't hate you, so get that thought out of your head. Just go talk to him." When she didn't say anything, he added. "If I'm wrong, I'll let you shoot me."

She glared at him. "Great, so I'd end up with an uncle who hates me and one of my only friends would be dead."

"I said shoot, not kill," Garrus said with a chuckle as he stood and hauled her to her feet. "And it doesn't matter, because I know I'm right. Now go."

* * *

Zaeed was pacing around his quarters when he heard the chime on the door. He already knew it would be Izzy.

"Fuck off," he snarled. "I'm not-"

"Zani, let me in. Please." He heard the slightest tremble in her voice and he was instantly reminded of Izzy as a child, whenever she was scared. And the anger he'd felt at her melted away. He answered the door and she walked in, unable to look him in the eye.

She sat on top of his work bench and stared at the floor. Neither of them spoke for several minutes.

Finally, she looked at him and said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean any of it. I don't blame you at all."

He gave her a small smile and said, "I know. And I'm sorry for the way I stormed out."

"So you don't hate me?"

His eyes widened. "What? Why the _hell_ would you think I hated you? Christ, Izzy. We have a couple of arguments, and you think that means I hate you?"

She shrugged. "Well, you had one big argument with Vido and then he shot you in the head."

He shook his head sadly. "Goddamn he messed you up, baby girl. Listen to me. Your... Vido is one of the most unbalanced people I've ever met in my entire life. You can't base normal life off of growing up with him as your... father."

"I didn't. I had you and Tobias. And now, because of-"

"I swear to God, if you say the words 'because of me' again, I'm throwing you out of the room."

She rolled her eyes. "Because of _Vido_, I have at one point or another lost both of you."

"I'm sorry about Tobias. He really was a good man."

"There's only one thing to do: find Vido again and actually kill him this time. I will _never_ forgive myself if anything happens to James or his uncle Emilio."

"Again, _if_ it happened, it wouldn't be your fault," Zaeed said firmly.

"Alright. I get it," Izzy said with a small smile.

"Good. Don't forget it."

* * *

_A/N: quote from _The Princess Bride_ (1987)... if you didn't already know that, please, watch the damn movie lol_


	7. Back to the Place Where I Began

**Beta: pixelatrix  
Thanks for the review ****and new follow**** :)  
Bioware owns all recognized characters. If you don't recognize them, they're probably mine.**

* * *

_From: C. Shepard  
To: E. Vega  
Subj: Funeral?  
Thanks for letting me know, via your darling nephew, about Tobias and the church.  
I want to come to the funeral if there will be one. Please let me know ASAP  
-Izzy_

Izzy smiled at Emilio's reply.

_From: E. Vega  
To: C. Shepard  
Subj: re: Funeral  
Welcome back! We've missed you.  
James is darling? I'll take your word on that, Izzy.  
The funeral will be in a couple of days.  
-Emilio_

She sent a quick reply stating that she'd be there.

* * *

Izzy ordered the Normandy to the Citadel and gave everyone 48 hours of mandatory shore leave. She had decided the best way to avoid confrontation was to book transport to Earth while everyone was away doing their own thing. But Zaeed wasn't fooled. He caught her in her quarters as she was preparing to leave.

"This is insane," he said. "You can't go back to Earth."

"Insane or not, I'm going," Izzy said firmly.

"No, you bloody well are not."

She huffed. "I don't remember you always being this bossy when I was a kid."

Zaeed rolled his eyes. "You were sensible back then. Now you're just completely reckless."

"What the fuck is so reckless about wanting to go to a goddamn funeral?"

"Going alone for one. Not to mention, don't you think this is exactly what Vido expects you to do?"

"Fuck Vido. He's the _reason_ I'm going."

He raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"I have to talk to Emilio."

"Ever heard of a little thing called video chat, Izzy?" he said sarcastically.

She growled. "I need to talk to him in person."

"And how exactly does that mean Vido is the reason you're going, aside from the fact that he's the reason Tobias is dead?"

"Ha. You just said I'm going. Anyway, because I need to... I don't know."

Zaeed sighed resignedly. "Fine. But there's one more thing I'm almost positive you didn't think about before you decided that this was a good idea."

"What's that?"

"The fact that Commander Shepard is alive is not common knowledge, yet. I am assuming you wouldn't want Tobias' funeral overshadowed by everyone recognizing you and making a huge deal about it."

"Fuck."

He chuckled. "Now where exactly would you be without me to remind you of these things?"

She already knew the answer to that. "In a biotic battle with Miranda after _she_ reminded me of it, and then listed a whole host of other reasons why she thinks I shouldn't or can't go. And then dead again, after Joker killed both of us for destroying his ship."

"But Miranda doesn't know the reason you're going to Earth, right?"

Izzy shook her head. "Not that I'm aware of. I'm positive the Illusive Man knows, well, _everything_ about my past, but I doubt he shared all of it with her."

Zaeed crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall next to the empty aquarium. "As you are your father's daughter, whether either of you want to admit it or not, I know you are going no matter what. You're both bloody stubborn that way."

She scowled at him. "Why the fuck would you say something like that? That was just mean."

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, but it's the goddamn truth. This isn't the first time you've reminded me of Vido and it scares me."

If she was honest with herself, it scared her too, but she wasn't going to admit that. Instead, she said, "Well get over it. And help me figure out how to disguise myself so no one will recognize me."

* * *

Between them, the only thing Izzy and Zaeed could come up with was wearing a hood to cover her face. That's how she found herself ten hours later standing with Emilio in her old neighborhood, her usual black cargo pants and boots paired with a hoodie she'd bought back on Omega.

"Are you sure, Izzy?" Emilio asked, his voice laced with concern. "It won't be easy to look at."

She nodded mutely and put her hand in the crook of his arm as they walked down the street towards the remains of St. Mark's Catholic Church. When they were half a block away, she looked up and her knees went weak. If she hadn't already been holding onto Emilio, she knew she probably would have fainted. She'd seen her share of destruction, but that was nothing compared to what little now remained of the church where she'd grown up.

"I can't... I can't do this," she whispered.

Emilio nodded and started steering her away.

She stopped. "Wait. No, I _have_ to do this. Otherwise, Vido wins."

"Are you sure?" he repeated.

"Yes. Absolutely." Izzy slowly walked away from Emilio and towards what had been the front steps of the church. The front steps where she'd found refuge so long ago. She sank to her knees on the top step and pulled a rosary from her pocket, placing it among the flowers and other items in the makeshift memorial. She said a prayer for Tobias and stood up again to go back to Emilio.

Suddenly, she felt a hand firmly grip her arm and something hard being pressed into the small of her back as the voice she loathed more than any other muttered in her ear, "Hello, Isadora. I'm so glad you decided to accept my invitation."

Izzy tried to turn and face him, but his grip on her arm tightened to the point of pain.

"Act casual and walk with me, or I will shoot you."

"Shooting me in the back. Is that your signature now?" she growled.

He laughed harshly. "If you hadn't run away the first time, you wouldn't be in this position right now."

"What do you want from me, Vido?"

"You already know what I want, Isadora. Because you refused, Tobias' blood is on your hands. Unless you'd like to see a repeat starring Emilio Vega, you'll think long and hard before you say no to me again."

"You won't get away with this," she said, trying to remain calm, but panic was rising quickly as they walked further from where Emilio was standing.

"Really? Who do you suppose is going to stop me, Isadora? Your precious Alliance abandoned you and you would rather die again than ask the Illusive Man for help."

"You forgot someone, jackass," Zaeed growled as he stepped in front of them from an alley.

Vido didn't seem surprised to see him. "Back off, Massani or she gets paralyzed."

Zaeed scoffed. "Really Vido? How would that help you? You keep saying you want her to be beside you, leading the Suns. How do you expect that to happen if she's paralyzed or, more likely, dead? I mean, I know you aren't overly fond of her, but that's rash, even for you."

Before Vido could retort, he was sent flying backwards as a biotic pulse hit him in the stomach. At the same time, Izzy flew forward, straight into Zaeed's arms.

"Don't say a fucking word," she muttered. "Not one word."

"Fine, then I have two. 'You're welcome.'"

"Smartass. I was doing fine."

"The look on your face said quite the opposite, baby girl."

She ignored him. "Why are you here anyway?"

"Besides saving your ass, again?"

"If you must put it that way, yes."

He shrugged. "Tobias happened to be a good friend. I wanted to pay my respects."

"Oh."

They stepped over to where Vido lay flat on his back in a daze.

"Like I said on Zorya, don't underestimate the bitch with the biotics," Izzy said as she knelt down and picked up his gun. "I'll be taking this, by the way," she added with a wink before she stood and walked away with Zaeed.

As they rounded the corner, Emilio ran up. "Are you OK, Izzy? I've been looking all over for you."

She smiled. "I'm fine."

"Who's this?" he asked, looking over her head at Zaeed.

"I was just about to ask the same question," the mercenary said.

Izzy sighed. "Emilio, Zaeed. Zaeed, Emilio."

The two men shook hands awkwardly while they both remained wary of the other.

"We need to talk," she said to Emilio. "Vido is up to his old tricks, trying to get me to join him in the Suns. He thinks if he takes away everyone I care about, I'll give in."

"He's a fucking idiot then," Emilio said.

"He's targeted you next," she continued. "I don't know how to help you except by warning you. So just... be careful."

He smiled and pulled her into a hug. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

"But-"

"No buts, Izzy. You just get back and finish whatever the hell you're doing so you can come back to the Alliance."

She nodded. "I will. I don't intend to intrude on the Illusive Man's 'hospitality' for longer than necessary."


	8. The Girlfriend and the Baby Krogan

**Beta: pixelatrix  
Thanks for the review :)  
Bioware owns all recognized characters. If you don't recognize them, they're probably mine.**

* * *

"Why didn't you shoot Vido the other day?" Izzy asked as she, Zaeed and Mordin made their way through the Blue Suns camp on Korlus. She'd been wondering about it since they left Earth, but they'd been too damn busy since then for her to ask.

"_Why_?" Zaeed repeated, sighting down a merc who'd just shot a rocket at Izzy and Mordin. "Because I refuse to stoop to Vido's level. Shooting a man when he's down, or restrained, isn't right. It's the coward's way out. When I kill Vido, it will be in a proper fire-fight."

"Good in theory," Mordin quipped. "Sometimes not possible in practice."

"I'm going to make it bloody possible," Zaeed muttered.

They rounded a corner and saw a merc limping towards them, muttering to himself. He looked up and saw them. "Shit. Who are you? Alliance? Mercs?"

"I think we'll be the ones asking the questions and you'll be the one giving the answers," Izzy said.

"I'm not telling you shit, bitch." From someone else, that might have sounded threatening; from the wounded merc, it just sounded pathetic and desperate.

Izzy snorted derisively. "You aren't really in a position to compromise."

The merc glanced at her and then at the guns pointed in his direction. "Fine. What do you want to know?"

"Who's in charge here? And where's Okeer?"

"O-who? Guess that might be the crazy-ass old krogan. He's up in the lab. As for who's in charge, that'd be-"

A female voice came over the loudspeaker then and they listened to her barking out orders and reprimands for a few minutes.

"Jedore," Zaeed said when the loudspeaker finally turned off.

Izzy turned to look at him. "Who's Jedore?"

"She was around back... then. At one point she and Vido dated, or so I um... _heard_."

"You h-" Izzy shuddered. "Ya know, I really could have happily lived the _entire_ rest of my life without knowing that information."

Zaeed smirked. "You asked."

"Jackass," she muttered and turned back to the merc. "So where do we find this Jedore?"

The man was gawking at her. "What the fuck was that? Do you-"

"None of your goddamn business," she snarled. "Just tell me where the fuck Jedore is. Or how to get to the lab. Okeer's the one I'm actually interested in."

"Just keep going forward. You'll hit the labs eventually. The old krogan up there is supposed to be building a krogan army for Jedore. But hell if I know what he's actually doing. He keeps sending his rejects out of the lab. That's why we're out here." When Izzy raised an eyebrow, he added, "Target practice."

"Who's the target?" she asked with a laugh. "You or the rejected krogan?"

They moved on then, making their way past a group of Suns who relied heavily on their rocket launchers. Mordin's incineration blast insured most of them met an explosive end. Then they came upon one of the rejected krogan the merc had mentioned. He seemed disoriented and confused about everything except that his purpose was to wait. He showed them the way to the labs and they moved on.

Izzy was strongly reminded of the krogan in Saren's breeding facility on Virmire as they started seeing more krogan and fewer Suns. A krogan army, no matter who was making them and for what purpose, was a very bad thing.

Finally, they reached Okeer. _I'm full-up on crazy; this one is pushing it_, Izzy thought as the warlord explained what he was trying to accomplish with his work. She didn't hate krogan in general (Wrex was one of her best friends) but the longer Okeer talked, the less she liked him and the more she wondered how the hell she was going to work with him.

Suddenly, alarms started going off and Okeer sent them off to another part of the lab to take care of Jedore.

"Oh look, it's Vido's brat and the traitor," she sneered as they entered the room.

"You're gonna have to try a hell of a lot harder than that if you're trying to insult me, bitch," Izzy retorted.

Any further conversation was halted when Zaeed grabbed the rocket launcher from Izzy's back and fired a rocket straight at Jedore's head. She ducked and it exploded against one of the numerous tanks lining the walls of the room. All of them were filled with krogan that Okeer apparently hadn't rejected. It wasn't long before the krogan had been released from their tanks and were either shooting at Izzy and her squad or charging at them. Izzy recalled the pain she'd been in after she and Kaidan had been literally run over by the krogan that had been after Liara on Therum. Garrus had been the only one to successfully sidestep the rampaging alien, a fact he'd brought up frequently to annoy them. Izzy didn't relish a repeat of either event.

Finally, Jedore's head exploded, literally, thanks to the warp ammo Zaeed had loaded into his sniper rifle. More alarms were going off, these coming from Okeer's main lab. Izzy ran back up the stairs, Zaeed and Mordin on her heels, only to find Okeer dead beside the tank that contained yet another krogan. This one was special, according to the vid on Okeer's computer. The crazy bastard had finally achieved his goal: one perfect krogan.

* * *

Miranda and Jacob made their concerns about the "oversize paperweight" known as soon as Izzy set foot back on the Normandy. She made note of their objections and ignored them. Her yeoman and the ship's AI had their own concerns regarding the tank-bred, which Kelly kept irritatingly calling a "baby" krogan.

Izzy went down to the cargo hold and woke the "baby." He was no fucking baby. He was a full-grown krogan who immediately charged at her and slammed her against the wall, pinning her to it with one of his massive arms.

After a brief conversation, the self-christened Grunt decided she was worthy of her command and released his hold on her.

"Glad you decided to see reason," Izzy said with a smirk.

Grunt looked down in surprise at the pistol she'd been pressing into his gut the whole time. "Ha! Offer one hand but arm the other. Wise, Shepard."

She grinned. "I have my moments."


	9. Horizon

**Beta: pixelatrix  
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* * *

Izzy didn't think she could hate the Collectors any more than she already did. Until she came face-to-face with them for the first time.

After she woke Grunt, the Illusive Man had called, saying that he'd found the next place the Collectors were going to hit: Horizon. Not only that, but Kaidan was rumored to be currently stationed there.

Fighting the giant bugs was unnerving, to say the least. More than a few times, Izzy wondered how the hell she, Garrus and Zaeed were going to make it off-planet alive.

Finally EDI was able to get the colony's defense system operational and the Collector ship took off.

And then, Kaidan was coming across the field.

"You're in the presence of a legend, Delan, and a ghost," he said to the mechanic who had been talking to Izzy after the Collectors left.

Delan stalked off in a huff, disgusted that Kaidan had been left behind when so many members of the colony had been taken.

Kaidan turned back to Izzy. "I thought you were dead," he said quietly. "We all did."

"I was. It's... complicated."

"Then make it fucking uncomplicated, Shepard," he said fiercely. "There are a hell of a lot of rumors surrounding your sudden reappearance. There's even the one that I just can't believe could be true: that you're working for Cerberus."

"It's true."

Kaidan balked. "What? That can't... there's no way... really Shepard? After all the sick twisted shit we saw them doing two years ago, how the fuck can you stand there and tell me you're working for those assholes?"

"Because it's the goddamn truth whether you want to believe it or not, Kaidan," she growled. "You think I'm happy about it? You think it wasn't a fucking shock to wake up all alone, only to discover that not only had I been _dead_ for two years, but I was now working with the very people I'd spent months trying to take down?"

He shook his head. "You've changed, Shepard. The Commander Shepard I knew, the woman I followed to hell and back so many times, would _never_ betray the Council, the Alliance, by working for Cerberus."

Izzy could see Garrus and Zaeed coming up behind her and held up a hand to stop them. Then she took a step closer to Kaidan, her hands now glowing blue. "What the _fuck_ did you just say to me?"

He looked her dead in the eye. "I said you betrayed the Council and the Alliance."

"That's what I fucking thought you said." She hit him with a biotic pulse that sent him flying across the field, turned abruptly and headed back towards the shuttle, dragging Zaeed and Garrus with her. She didn't want to risk either of them actually _shooting_ Kaidan.

As soon as the shuttle docked, Izzy was out of it and into the elevator, bypassing Deck 3 and the med-bay, though she was positive she probably needed to get checked out, in favor of locking herself in her quarters. She punched up her messages and sent one to James. If there was ever a time she needed him, it was now.

"Shepard, your boyfriend is calling," Joker said with amusement three hours later.

Izzy bolted straight up in bed, where she'd been in the middle of a fitful sleep full of Collectors blowing up her ship.

"Oh my God, Joker. Shut up!" she yelped. You know damn well you're the only one who knows about that."

"Christ! Calm down, Shepard. It's not like I just made a ship-wide announcement (as far as I know). The only one heard me was this fucking AI."

Izzy grumbled as she pulled on a sweatshirt and crossed the room to answer James' hail.

"Hey, Lola," he said the moment he appeared on the screen. "Have you been crying? What's wrong, _mi amor_?"

"Not- James, am I traitor?" she asked quietly.

James' eyes went wide. "Why in God's name would you ask a question like that, Lola?"

"We... we were on Horizon."

"Holy shit!"

"We couldn't save everyone... lost about 1/3 of the colony. And... Alenko was there."

"Your LT back on the Normandy?"

Izzy nodded. "He's... whatever. He was there. We... I guess you could call it talking, though it was less talking and more him being a stubborn jackass who won't listen. Anyway... he... called me a traitor to the Council and the Alliance."

"_Maldito cabrón_," James muttered. He looked at her and said firmly, "No, Lola. You are not a traitor. You've bled Alliance blue since the day we signed up."

She sighed. "I just keep thinking what if he's right?"

"Lola, _querid__o_, look at me."

She looked up into his dark chocolate brown eyes.

"Did you join Cerberus of your own free will?"

She shook her head.

"Then you can't be considered a traitor."

She sighed. "If you say so, James. So what's up with you?"

James chuckled. "You're doing it again, babe."

"Doing what?"

"Avoiding the issue."

Izzy shrugged. "Maybe. Or maybe I just want to know how _mi novio_ is doing since I haven't talked to him in so long."

"Still missing you like crazy, Lola. Other than that, I'm doing OK."

"Only OK?"

"I'll be better when I can see you again, in person."

Izzy smiled. "Me too. Hopefully soon."


	10. There's a New Broker in Town

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* * *

"Liara, why are you so interested in the Shadow Broker?" Izzy asked.

After rescuing Miranda's sister and recruiting the drell assassin and asari Justicar, there was just one more thing left to do on Illium. Someone inside Cerberus had sent the Commander files that could help identify the location of the Shadow Broker and indicated Liara would be interested in said information. However, this seemed beyond "interested," bordering on obsessed, and Izzy needed to know why before she told her about the files or agreed to a mission.

"It's a long story, Shepard," Liara said quietly.

Izzy shrugged. "I've got time. Hit me."

Liara looked confused. "Hit...? Oh. You mean _tell_ you. I am sorry. I am still not used to a lot of human slang." She sighed. "After the first Normandy was destroyed, your body disappeared. It had been stolen by agents of the Shadow Broker."

Izzy held up a hand. "Wait a second. The Shadow Broker had my... corpse? Why?"

"He intended to sell it... you... to the Collectors, who in turn intended to sell, or give, it... you... to the Reapers."

"I think that's the second most disturbing thing I've heard in the last week," Izzy muttered. "Or... ever."

Liara appeared not to have heard her as she continued. "With the help of a friend, I tracked down the Shadow Broker's agents and stole you back from them. The friend sacrificed himself in order for me to escape."

"So... you want to find the Shadow Broker and... take revenge for your friend's death?"

Liara nodded. "Or see if perhaps he's still alive. I know it would be a long shot; it has been well over two years now. But I have to believe there is still a chance Feron is still alive."

"Question: how the bloody hell did I end up with Cerberus?"

"I gave you to them. Miranda Lawson was the one who gave me the information that helped me to track down your whereabouts in the first place."

Izzy shook her head as she began pacing Liara's office. "I don't know whether I should kiss you or fucking strangle you, woman."

"Would you rather that you were still dead, or worse, in the hands of the Reapers?" Liara asked.

"I would rather... not be..." Izzy sighed as she walked over to the asari and hugged her. "Thank you. I may absolutely hate everything about Cerberus, but working with them is only temporary. You gave me the ability to continue on after that."

Liara smiled. "You are welcome. And I am very glad you are back, Shepard."

"So... wanna go get the Shadow Broker?"

* * *

"The Council _really_ needs to review their standards for choosing Spectres," Izzy muttered darkly four hours later as she limped away from the edge of the balcony where Vasir's body lay in a growing pool of blood.

"You OK?" Zaeed asked, his voice laced with concern. Between Vasir throwing her to the ground back at the office building and the brutal fight the two Spectres had just engaged in, he was impressed that Izzy was able to stand at all, much less walk.

She nodded as she tightly gripped the arm he offered. "I've been better, but I've been a hell of a lot worse. I'll be fine by the time we get to wherever the Shadow Broker's base is."

"I've got the information," Liara said, coming up on Izzy's other side.

"Alright, let's get back to the Normandy and find out where to find this bastard."

Two days later, the trio found themselves trying to get inside the Shadow Broker's ship, which was orbiting above the stormy planet of Hagalaz.

"It'll be a bloody miracle if we don't get electrocuted before we get inside this fucking thing," Zaeed said as they passed yet another lightening rod.

Izzy nodded in agreement. "Liara, sweetheart, next time you want my help with some big bad jackass that lives inside a lightening storm, I'm going to throw you through a fucking window."

"I do not think it is that bad," Liara said with a grin. "I think it is kind of exhilarating."

"You've been stuck behind a fucking desk for too long," Izzy retorted.

"I cannot deny that," the asari said. "The last adventure I had was hunting down your corpse."

Zaeed shuddered as he and Izzy ducked behind a low wall. "Is she always that bloody creepy?" he growled as they covered Liara while she tried to unlock the door to the base.

Izzy laughed. "Very nearly always, yes."

"Ah. Dr. T'Soni. I wondered how long it would take you to track me down," the Shadow Broker said. "And such interesting companions you bring with you. Zaeed Massani and Commander Shepard. Or should I say Isadora Santiago."

Izzy rolled her eyes.

"How much do you think Vido would pay for both of you?" the yahg continued.

"What is going on?" Liara asked, looking at Izzy and Zaeed.

"Later," Izzy hissed. "After we kill the eight-eyed giant. OK?"

"What's this? Keeping secrets from your friends, Commander?" the Broker mocked.

Izzy responded by sending a biotic pulse towards the yahg.

The alien laughed harshly as the pulse ricocheted off of his shield and hit Zaeed in the chest, sending him hurtling into the back wall where he collapsed in a heap on the floor.

"You'll pay for that," Izzy snarled as she charged forward, hands glowing.

Liara yanked her back by the collar of her armor and pulled her behind a pillar. "I do not understand what is going on here, but I know one thing. We need to work together, or we will both end up like Zaeed, or worse."

Izzy nodded. "Let's do this."

Twenty minutes later, Izzy had several bruised ribs from being repeatedly slammed into the wall by the yahg's shields. Liara, on the other hand, didn't appear to be injured in any way.

"This isn't working, Liara. Do something else!" Izzy whimpered.

"I don't..." Liara looked at the yahg and at the shield mechanism above him. "Shepard, do you have enough strength for one more run at him?"

"I... maybe. Why?"

"Trust me."

Izzy struggled to her feet and waited for Liara's signal.

"NOW!" Liara yelled a minute later.

Izzy had no idea what the hell Liara had been waiting for but she charged forward and, just like the other half dozen times she'd done so, the yahg raised his shield and she bounced off of it. This time, however, Liara froze her in a stasis field for a second to slow her momentum and she hit the floor instead of the wall.

But Liara wasn't finished. She used every ounce of biotic energy to pull down the shielding mechanism on top of the yahg, who exploded. Izzy quickly shielded herself, Zaeed and Liara from the shards of the glass that were spreading across the room.

When the debris settled, Izzy crawled over to Zaeed, who had regained consciousness and was sitting up against the wall. She sat next to him and smiled weakly.

"Sorry about that," she said hoarsely. "You OK?"

He chuckled. "I'm fine. You?"

"I'll live. I think."

They got up and walked over to Liara, who was examining the Shadow Broker's consoles.

"So," Liara said. "Care to explain your connection to Vido Santiago and why the former Shadow Broker thought you both would be valuable to him?"

Izzy sighed. "It's a long story."

"I have time. Hit me," Liara said with a wink.


	11. Secrets Revealed

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* * *

_"One of us is going to have to tell him, and the odds of my surviving intact are slim."_

James' words from the end of the previous night's chat kept running through Izzy's head as she sat at a table in the Dark Star Lounge on the Citadel. The hurt tone in his voice when she'd said she still hadn't told Zaeed that they were together had damn near broken her heart. She didn't know _why_ she was having trouble telling him. It was... complicated.

"This seat taken?" a gruff voice asked. Izzy looked up to find her uncle smirking at her.

She shook her head. "This is because I sneaked up on you, twice, on Omega, isn't it?" she asked with a grin as he sat across from her.

Zaeed laughed. "I'll give you the second time, but it's not really sneaking when you slam into the person you're following."

"You did that on purpose, turning like that."

He feigned innocence. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Izzy." He ordered a bottle of whiskey and looked back at her. "So what was it you wanted to talk to me about that you didn't want to say on the ship?"

"Liara gave me my old dog tags. Admiral Hackett had them." She tossed the chain on the table between them.

Zaeed picked them up to take a closer look. On one side, the name C. Shepard was still barely visible. He turned them over in his hand and looked at the other side. There was a mutated silver circle in the middle of the tags, along with what looked like part of a black stone sticking out.

He raised an eyebrow. "Is that a ring?" he asked as he handed the tags back to her.

She pulled the chain back over her head as she nodded. "Remember our first... OK second... conversation on Omega? You asked me who James was and I said he was my best friend?"

"Yes..." he said slowly.

"Well, that wasn't entirely true."

"I knew it," he said with a self-satisfied smirk. "Go on. Out with it."

"I mean, what I said _is_ true. We've been best friends since we were ten. But there's more to it. We were dating off and on since we joined the Alliance; since Elysium it's been on, 100%. And then about a week before the original Normandy made her last trip, James asked me to marry him."

"Did he now?" he said in an amused voice. "Well then. I think he and I will be having a little chat."

Izzy's head fell on to the table with a _thunk_. "So much for your brilliant plan of avoiding him, James," she muttered.

"Avoiding?" Zaeed asked.

She sighed as she lifted her head. "I've been avoiding telling you and-"

"Why?"

She shrugged. "Dunno. That conversation in Afterlife, I wasn't really lying anyway. I honestly didn't know _how_ James was going to feel with me being gone for two years."

"That makes sense, I suppose," he said. "And after you talked to him?"

"Well, then there was Tobias' funeral and Vido being a giant douche, then Alenko being a giant douche..."

"You need better friends, baby girl."

"Alenko's the only problem, honestly. Well, him and Anderson sort of. But Anderson's not exactly a 'friend'... he was the original captain of the Normandy; Alenko, Joker and I were all under his command. And now he's a goddamn Councilor, which I _thought_ was going to be a good thing, at the time..."

"And Hackett?"

"He's... well, he's the Admiral of the Fleet. But he's always believed in me, so that's... something." Izzy raised an eyebrow. "How the fuck did we even get on this topic?"

"I believe we were talking about you avoiding talking about James."

"Oh. Right."

Zaeed chuckled. "So. How did he propose?"

Izzy pulled her tags up to stare at them and ran her thumb over the remains of the ring. "We were helping in the clean-up of the Presidium after the Battle for the Citadel. All day, I had been wondering about the ring on his tags and finally I asked him about it. He said it was for this girl he liked, and I swear to God I nearly slugged him. He saw the look on my face and said that he meant that I was the girl. Then he got down on one knee, I said yes, and then I really did punch him, for being an idiot."

"Ok now we're _definitely_ going to be having a chat," Zaeed muttered.

"And by chat you do actually mean talking, yes?" Izzy asked. "You're not going to... shoot him are you?"

"We'll see."

* * *

When Izzy got back to her quarters, she found the light on her terminal blinking insistently, announcing a vid-chat hail. She hit the button.

"You told him didn't you?" James said immediately.

Izzy laughed. "Hello to you too, sweetie. And yes, yes I did. But in my defense, _you told me to_."

"He sent me a message."

"OK..." She read the words that were now scrolling across the terminal:

_From: Z. Massani  
To: J. Vega  
Subj: Chat  
We need to have a chat. As soon as goddamn possible.  
In person, not over the bloody vid-comm._

Izzy smirked. "I told you that you wouldn't be able to avoid him forever, James."

"But-"

"Just suck it up and... don't say anything stupid. He's very protective," she said with a grin.

"That was just... so unhelpful."

"And don't keep him waiting. We're on the Citadel at the moment. I can leave him here while we go on to our next mission. He can easily catch up once he's done kil-er... talking to you."

"So you're gonna make me meet him alone and I won't even get to see you as a reward?"

She shook her head. "Sorry, James. I think Tali's in trouble, stuck in geth-controlled space. So I gotta get out there ASAP."

"Stay safe, Lola. I really don't want this... chat... to have been for nothing."

Izzy snorted. "I'll just pretend that was you saying I love you. I love you too, James."

* * *

Thirty-six hours later, Zaeed was being pointed in the direction of the huge marine sitting near the back of the Lounge.

"Vega?" he asked when he reached the table.

The man nodded and Zaeed sat down across from.

James opened his mouth to say something but Zaeed held up a hand. "I'm going to talk and you're going to listen." He chuckled when James visibly gulped. "Izzy isn't my daughter, but she might as well be. Her father all but disowned her from birth, so I was the one who raised her. Until-"

"Until you abandoned her," James snapped before he could stop himself.

"What the hell did you just say to me?" Zaeed growled. "I didn't..."

"Yes, you did," James said. "Did you even _try_ to find her?"

"I thought she was dead," Zaeed said.

"Did you really? Or were you just too consumed by your need for revenge that you didn't bother looking?"

"Watch your mouth, Vega."

"Did she ever tell you how we met?"

"No."

"In the alley where you were shot, on the first anniversary of your 'death.' She was there, putting a flower by the wall. And every year after that, Massani, she came back and did the same thing. She did it even after we joined the Alliance, whenever she could; if she couldn't make it, Tobias did it for her."

"Damn," Zaeed muttered. "Look. If I'd known she was alive, obviously I would have come back for her. But I saw Vido shoot her. And it was dark and my vision was clouded by blood. How was I supposed to know he hadn't killed her? Vido's not known for missing his target."

James shook his head. "You still could have checked."

Zaeed's next statement was preempted by a beep simultaneously on his and James' omni-tools. He chuckled as he read the message:

_From: C. Shepard  
To: J. Vega; Z. Massani  
Subj: Still Alive  
Got one hell of a sunburn but we've got Tali. That is one pissed-off quarian.  
Heading to an abandoned Collector ship next.  
Zani, meet us on Omega when you're done not killing James.  
Love,  
Izzy_

"She told me how you proposed," Zaeed said.

"Oh shit," James muttered.

"Do it again."

James raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because it was goddamn unromantic, that's why. And because, when she was talking about it, I could sense the hesitation."

"What hesitation?"

"She loves you, that is very obvious. I could tell that back when she was still pretending you were just friends. But she's... I don't think she's 100% sure that you still want to marry her."

James sighed. "I've tried, so many times, to convince her that nothing has changed between us, that I still love her just as much as I did two years ago."

"Then show her." Zaeed gave him a pointed look. "And be romantic this time or I _will_ shoot you."


	12. Daddy Issues

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* * *

"Are there _any_ good fathers in this fucking galaxy?" Izzy grumbled as she rode the elevator up from the shuttle bay with Jacob and Garrus.

Jacob's father was now dead, thanks to the gun with _one bullet_ they'd left him with and Izzy had sent a message to Hackett so the crew of the Gernsback would be picked up soon. Now the Normandy was on its way from the Rosetta Nebula back to the Citadel. Garrus had found the son of a bitch who had betrayed his team on Omega.

"Yours really can't have been anything as bad as mine," Jacob said. "Or Miranda's."

Izzy scoffed. "Yours is a fucking saint compared to mine or Miranda's."

"Prove it."

"OK, first, I'm not saying that what Ronald Taylor did wasn't wholly despicable. Yes, as a _soldier_, he was an incredible ass, and that's putting it mildly. As a _father_, he wasn't there for you a lot growing up, but..."

"But what?" Jacob growled.

"But at least he loved you, in his own bizarro way. He didn't _create_ you for some ego-maniacal scheme, like Miranda's did, or shoot you in the back and leave you for dead when you were nine, like mine did."

"You... your... fuck," Jacob sputtered. "OK you win, Shepard."

"Win? What the fuck do I win, Jacob?" Izzy snarled. "It's not a goddamn contest. All I was saying was that there are worse things than your father going off on long missions all the time."

Jacob opened his mouth to say something and snapped it shut. The elevator doors opened to deck 3 and he stormed out towards the med-bay.

"Mine is alright," Garrus said as he and Izzy followed at a distance, bypassing the med-bay and walking instead towards the Forward Battery.

"But he wouldn't like me," she teased. "I seem to remember you saying something just after we met that your father had no love for Spectres."

"I think he'd like you a bit more now, the whole Savior of the Citadel thing and all."

She smirked. "And the fact that I saved his son's life?"

He chuckled. "Yes, that probably helped too."

* * *

Two days later, they were in search of Fade, who they hoped would be able to tell them where Garrus' traitor was.

"Why is it always the goddamn Suns?" Zaeed asked when the volus in the warehouse mentioned the merc group was protecting their target.

"Why is it always Harkin?" Garrus and Izzy responded together.

Zaeed raised an eyebrow. "Who's Harkin?"

"Former C-Sec," Garrus said. "He was my partner back in the old days, before I joined Shepard's crew."

"I'd met Garrus and then he ran off to follow up a lead for his own investigation and... I ended up talking to Harkin to find out where he'd gone," Izzy explained. "Mostly, he's just a giant creep. He was hitting on me from the first fucking word out of his mouth."

"So why did you say why is it _always_ him?" Zaeed asked. "Didn't you only have to deal with the jackass once?"

She shook her head. "There were several other times. He always seemed to be the one that was around whenever I had to deal with C-Sec. He makes my skin crawl, but he's harmless."

Garrus chuckled. "Harmless? I think he'd be very offended by that pronouncement, Shepard."

She grinned. "Good."

This batch of Blue Suns proved slightly tougher than the ones they'd encountered previously. By the time they got through Harkin's warehouse and past both of his heavy mechs, the trio had used nearly all of their combined medi-gel.

"Going somewhere, jackass?" Izzy snarled as she stepped into Harkin's office. He'd been trying to get through the door on the other side of the room, but Garrus stood in his way. Harkin turned back to the other door, only to find it blocked by Zaeed.

"What the fuck do you want, bitch?" he snapped as he turned back to Izzy.

"_I_ don't want a fucking thing from you," she replied. She nodded towards Garrus. "He does."

Harkin turned just in time for his ex-partner to grip him by the throat and slam him into the wall.

"This time, you're going to tell us what we need to know without hitting on Shepard."

"Not likely, Garrus." Harkin tried to laugh but the turian tightened his grip.

"I'm looking for someone."

"Aren't we all," Harkin muttered sarcastically. "Gonna need more than 'I'm looking for someone,' Garrus."

"His name's Sidonis. Turian. Last seen on-"

"I know who the fuck he is, and I'm not telling you shit unless Shepard-"

"There's no goddamn 'unless,'" Izzy said. "Tell him where Sidonis is or I'll shoot your favorite part of your anatomy off."

* * *

"Do you see Talid, Shepard?" Thane's voice came over the comm for the millionth time.

The rendezvous with Sidonis wasn't for another few hours, so Izzy had decided to use the downtime to help Thane track down his son. A quick word with one of Thane's old contacts had led them back to C-Sec, interrogating the guy who hired Kolyat. They'd found out the teenage drell had been contracted to kill a turian politician named Talid, so they'd headed to the 800 blocks to try and head him off.

"Yes, Thane," Izzy said from her position in the shadows of the catwalks, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice.

Below her, the turian and his krogan bodyguard moved on; she moved to another position a little ahead of them. As the bodyguard went into a shop to intimidate the owner, Izzy prepared to give Thane another update. Instead, she heard a voice just behind her.

"You really should be more aware of your surroundings, Isadora," Vido said as she slowly turned to face him. "That's the second time I've been able to sneak up on you. And this time, there is _no one_ to help you. You're all alone, little one."

"Shepard? What's Talid doing?" Thane asked over the comm.

Izzy hesitated.

"Well? Aren't you going to answer him?" Vido asked, the look on his face warning her not to try anything.

"He stopped," she said into the comm. "His bodyguard is working over a store owner."

"Alright, moving to a position ahead. Keep me updated," Thane responded.

Izzy turned her attention back to Vido and the gun in his hand. "Last time, it was a damn statistical improbability that you _wouldn't_ show up, because you knew that I would. But this... how did you get here, right now?"

"Ah, you mean how did I know where you would be? Your dear friend Harkin told me."

"I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch," Izzy muttered.

"By the way, Isadora, you shouldn't threaten a man with that kind of bodily injury unless you intend to carry it out."

Izzy scoffed. "It got him to cooperate, so what the fuck do I care? I only planned to shoot it off if he laid a finger on me. Lucky for him, he didn't."

Thane interrupted again. "I've lost sight of Talid, Shepard. Do you see him?"

She turned back to look over the side of the catwalk. Talid had moved on, but not far. "He-"

She was cut off by a sharp blow to the back of the head and darkness.


	13. The Lies Men Tell

**Beta: pixelatrix  
A/N: part of this chapter's plot was inspired by events from pixelatrix's The Admiral's Daughter (Go read it. It's awesome!)  
Thanks for the review****:)  
Bioware owns all recognized characters. If you don't recognize them, they're probably mine.**

* * *

"What the fuck do you mean you 'lost' her?" Zaeed growled, only just resisting the urge to reach through the comm and strangle Thane.

"I mean exactly what I said," the drell replied. "Shepard was on the catwalks, observing the target. I haven't heard from her in fifteen minutes. Therefore, I lost her."

"Where are you now?" Garrus asked.

"Following Talid on my own," Thane said. "I'm on the other side of the corridor from where Shepard was. It would take too long for me to try and figure out where she was when I last heard from her."

"We'll look for her. We've got plenty of time before I meet with Sidonis," Garrus said. "Good luck finding your son."

"Thank you. By the way, Shepard seemed distracted the last few times we spoke, if that helps you at all."

"Vido," Zaeed said darkly as the comm disconnected.

"You sure?" Garrus asked.

"I'm absolutely fucking positive. Not entirely positive on how he found her this time, but I know it's him."

They searched the catwalks where Izzy had been but found virtually no trace of her, only a small smear of blood on the floor at one point near a stockroom. Interrogating the teen working there proved mostly unhelpful. He had seen Vido passing through but didn't see him come back, and he hadn't seen Izzy at all.

"What the hell have you gotten yourself into, baby girl?" Zaeed muttered to himself.

"Now what do we do?" Garrus asked.

"EDI."

"Oh right. Because she can track anyone from the ship as long as they're on the Citadel."

"Exactly. And I hate to break it to you, but I don't think Izzy's going to be making it to that meeting with Sidonis."

"She'll be there," Vido interrupted over the comm.

"Goddamn you," Zaeed snarled. "What did you do to her? And don't you fucking dare say she brought it on herself."

"We needed to... have a chat. Somewhere where she wasn't going to be distracted by turians and drell and interfering uncles."

"Where is she?" Garrus asked.

"Don't you worry your scarred little heads about it," Vido said with a chuckle. "Just be at the Orbital Lounge at the right time. She'll be there."

An hour later, Zaeed and Garrus arrived on the catwalk above Orbital Lounge. Garrus went to set up his sniper rifle while Zaeed looked around for Izzy. He immediately saw a figure huddled in a corner, holding a pistol.

"Izzy? You OK?" he asked carefully as he approached. He stopped immediately when the pistol was suddenly pointed in his direction.

"You lied," Izzy whispered.

"I've never lied to you a day in your life, baby girl," he said as he slowly walked towards her.

She shook her head. "You told me you thought I was dead all those years."

"I did."

"No! You... you knew where I was... you decided you didn't want to bother with me anymore, so you let me think you were dead."

Zaeed frowned. "I know this is pointless, because I already know the answer but... where the _hell_ did you get an idea like that?"

"He told me. Showed me a message you sent him six months after that night in the alley."

"I never... what message? I only spoke to Vido once before Zorya, and that was about eight years after that night. At that point, he didn't know you were alive, or if he did, he didn't mention it to me."

"Liar." She put the gun down as she pulled up her omni-tool, scrolled to a message and tossed it to him.

_From: Z. Massani  
To: V. Santiago  
Subj: Surprise!  
I'm alive, she's alive. You'll never find me, but she never left.  
It's better this way, that she thinks I'm dead. I'm happy, she's happy.  
Everybody wins, except you, Vido._

"Are you fucking kidding me, Izzy?" Zaeed growled. "_This_ was all the proof you needed that I supposedly lied to you?"

"I needed more?" she shot back. "It's all there plain as day."

"Consider the source, Izzy."

"You."

"Not... _Vido_ was the one who gave you the message. Has he ever shown the slightest bit of interest in caring about you? And does that even sound like something I would write?"

Izzy seemed to consider his words for a moment. "No. But you..."

"There's no 'but,'" Zaeed said firmly. "He's manipulating you. Instead of going after Emilio or James, he's trying to cause a rift between us, because he thinks _that_ will send you running back to him."

"I only came back to help Garrus. After that, I'm gone. You'll be rid of me for good." She stood up then and walked over to the spot where Garrus had set up his rifle. "What do you need me to do?"

Garrus looked at Zaeed and then back at Izzy. "He's the one sitting on that bench down there. Just... keep him talking 'til the shot is set up."

Izzy nodded mutely and walked down the stairs. Her voice came over the comm. "Can you hear me, Garrus?"

"Loud and clear. Good luck, Shepard."

Zaeed watched carefully as Izzy interacted with the turian. He could hear every word over the comm. She was a natural at this, at talking bullshit and keeping people interested. Yet another trait she'd inherited from her jackass of a father.

Garrus indicated he had his shot and she moved out of the way. Sidonis was dead seconds later.

Suddenly, Izzy looked up to about where Zaeed and Garrus were stationed. She gave them a grin and a mocking salute. "So long, Garrus. Watch your back, Massani," she said as she turned and walked away.

Zaeed switched off the comm. "Do something. Now!" he growled at Garrus.

The turian nodded, loaded a concussive round into his rifle and aimed. The round hit Izzy in the back of the shoulder, exactly where Vido's bullet had hit 22 years ago.


	14. Truth Will Out

**Beta: pixelatrix  
Thanks for the review****:)  
Bioware owns all recognized characters. If you don't recognize them, they're probably mine.**

* * *

Thane stepped out of the back interrogation room in C-Sec just as Garrus was walking into the one next to it.

"Garrus? What are you doing here?" the drell asked. "Did you find Shepard?"

"We did. Or rather she found us," Garrus said. "Did you find your son?"

"Yes. I was just in time to stop him from making a huge mistake. The Captain has said Kolyat can work for him, doing community service, to work off his sentence."

"That's... good, right?"

"Yes, it's very good," Thane said with a small smile. "So, why are you here?"

"Just interrogating someone. Shouldn't be long."

Thane nodded and started walking back to the ship.

Garrus turned back and walked into the interrogation room. Izzy was strapped to a chair, fighting against the restraints. Zaeed stood to the side, massaging his jaw.

"What the hell, Massani?" Garrus asked. "Why'd you strap her down? I thought we were just going to talk to her."

"She took a swing at me," the mercenary said gruffly. "Didn't want to risk her shooting me as well."

Izzy rolled her eyes. "Don't rule out the biotics."

Zaeed ignored the threat. "What can I say that will make you believe I didn't send that message?" he asked.

Izzy shook her head. "Not a fucking thing, liar."

"Call Vido. I want to talk to him."

"Fuck off."

"Call him or I tell Vakarian your darkest secret."

"Hey, leave me out of this," Garrus protested.

"You don't _know_ my darkest secret, liar," Izzy said confidently.

Garrus held up a hand before Zaeed could say anything else. "There's a perfectly simple way to solve this. Without Vido and without... secrets."

"And what would that be?" Zaeed asked skeptically.

"Liara." Garrus turned to Izzy. "Shepard, if we get Liara to trace that message, will you believe whatever she says?"

She shrugged. "Guess so. But what's the point? It's just going to prove _he's_ a liar," she said, glaring at Zaeed.

The mercenary rolled his eyes. "You are going to be eating your words. And believe me, this time, I'm going to be saying 'I told you so.'"

Garrus got Liara on the comm. "Hey Shadow Broker. We need your help with something."

"My help? OK, what do you need?" Liara asked.

"Vido gave Shepard a message that Massani _supposedly_ sent him about 22 years ago."

"OK..."

"And because of this message, Shepard is 100% convinced Massani lied to her. She's threatening to leave the Normandy and join Vido instead."

"That sounds bad."

"No shit, Sherlock," Zaeed muttered.

"_Anyway_," Garrus continued. "We need you to trace the message, find out when it was actually sent and by whom."

"Alright. Give me a few minutes," Liara said. "Why is Shepard strapped into a chair?"

"Did I not mention the part where she was threatening to run away? Now focus, Liara. The message."

"Right." A few minutes later, Liara called back. "Garrus, I am sorry, but this is taking a lot longer than I anticipated. It may be a couple of days."

"Thanks, Liara," Garrus said. "We'll take her back to the Normandy. Not sure what we're going to tell the crew when she ends up in the brig though."

He and Zaeed stood on either side of the chair and unlocked the restraints. When they made to grab her arms, they realized a moment too late that Izzy was suddenly glowing blue. She slammed them both into the back wall and bolted for the door.

"Shepard? I thought-" Captain Bailey began when he saw her.

"I'm fine," Izzy said, what she hoped was a sincere smile plastered on her face. "Garrus and Zaeed are talking. Everything's OK now."

Bailey nodded and went back to his work.

As she walked out of C-Sec, Izzy brought up the messages on her Omni-Tool. She sent a quick one to Vido: _He's still trying to convince me he didn't lie. I threw him and Garrus against a wall. I need a quick out before they wake up __and/or Bailey discovers what happened__._

She received a reply seconds later: _Welcome home, Isadora. A shuttle is waiting for you at the terminal outside Dark Star Lounge._

* * *

It was two excruciatingly long days before Garrus and Zaeed heard from Liara again. As they'd known all along, the message originated from Vido. They'd been tempted to ask the Shadow Broker to track Izzy as well, but that problem had solved itself when Aria T'Loak sent a message to Zaeed saying she'd spotted Izzy and Vido together on Omega and thought it was a bit strange.

Stalling Miranda was a problem unto itself. She refused to believe Izzy had gone off on a mission alone, without telling her. Zaeed once again reiterated the Commander's near-constant mantra that she didn't trust Cerberus, so why would she tell Miranda anything. Izzy's XO persisted, wanting to know why they were headed back to Omega. Garrus and Zaeed were saved from having to come up with a plausible excuse when Samara stated that they were going to meet the Commander there because she had found Samara's daughter.

"Thank you," Zaeed said. "That was quite an inventive lie."

The Justicar shook her head. "It was the absolute truth. Morinth _is_ on Omega and Commander Shepard was the one who gave me this information."

Zaeed muttered a litany of curses. "So she'll talk to everyone else on this ship except me. That's just bloody brilliant."

An hour later, he received a message from Izzy. He was sorely tempted to ignore it but curiosity won out and he opened it: _Help me. Please._

If there was more to the message, he didn't see it as he called up to the cockpit to ask how long it would be until they reached Omega. Three hours was the answer.

Three hours was too fucking long.

As soon as they were coming in to dock, Zaeed sent a reply to Izzy: _I'm here. Where are you?_

He left the ship as soon as the docking tube was in place and made his way to Afterlife. If anyone knew what the hell was going on, Aria would. Before he even reached the bar, he heard a voice on the comm.

"You are entirely too predictable, Massani," Vido said. "Even when she's turned her back on you and come back to me, you still can't resist trying to play the goddamn hero."

Zaeed growled. "You sent that one too?"

"Of course I did," Vido said with a harsh laugh.

"What does he mean 'too'?" Izzy's outraged voice came over the comm. "You fucking bastard!"

"Isadora, I can explain. And where the fuck did you come from?" Vido sounded panicked now.

Zaeed couldn't help laughing. "Payback is a bitch, Vido. Izzy, where are you?"

"I'm sorry, Zani," Izzy said. "I didn't-"

"Later. Where are you?"

"This isn't over," Vido growled before Izzy could respond. "Not by a fucking long shot."

"No, it really really is, Vido," Izzy snapped. "If you come near me again, there's no guarantee you'll make it out alive."

Zaeed heard a gunshot seconds later. "Izzy? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Vido's... well, he'll live," she said, the grin coming through even on the comm. "Meet me at Afterlife in ten. I'm buying."


	15. Apologies and Questions Answered

**Beta: pixelatrix  
Thanks for the review****:)  
Bioware owns all recognized characters. If you don't recognize them, they're probably mine.**

* * *

"You're late," Zaeed growled as Izzy took a seat across from him half an hour after their last conversation. "I was beginning to think you weren't gonna show up."

She shrugged. "Shooting the boss kinda tends to piss off his men. Had a bit of a fight on my hands and it took longer than I'd planned."

Zaeed sighed.

Izzy quirked an eyebrow. "You're gonna say things now, aren't you?"

"You're damn right I am," he said. His face was devoid of emotion, but Izzy knew him well enough to hear the rage in his voice.

She crossed her arms. "Alright then, let's hear it. But make it quick because I have a killer asari to seduce in about half an hour."

"I-" Zaeed cut himself off and narrowed his eyes. "Did you just say 'seduce a killer asari'?"

She smirked. "Yes, yes I did."

He sighed again. "Samara's daughter."

"Yes. By the way, if anyone asks, that's what I was doing on Omega in the first place."

"That lie has already been established, by Samara herself. Vakarian and I were having trouble getting your bitchy XO to shut up."

Izzy laughed. "Sorry about that. She is extremely pushy. But she bought the story Samara gave?"

"She did. Samara said it was the truth."

"It is."

"So you really _were_ talking to everyone else on the ship except me."

"Sort of," she said with a grimace. "Technically, Samara was the only one I contacted. But yes, when it came down to it, I would have talked to anyone on the ship except you, and Garrus and probably Miranda."

"I see."

Izzy rolled her eyes. "I _hate_ when you do that."

Zaeed shook his head. "Would you rather I yelled?"

She held up a hand. "That's OK. Maybe later. I'm going to get an earful from Garrus as it is, but... yeah, who had the genius idea of _shooting me in the back_?"

"It was the quickest way I could think of to stop you," he said unapologetically.

She growled. "That's just fucking perfect. Is there anyone in my family who _hasn't_ shot me in the back? It was the same goddamn place, by the way."

"You asked who had the idea. You didn't ask who carried it out."

She sighed. "Garrus."

"You called?" an amused voice said from above her.

Izzy looked up to see the turian standing next to the table. She smiled. "Hey."

"There you go with that 'hey' shit again," Zaeed said. "There are other greetings in the galaxy besides 'hey.'"

"And there are other ways of stopping someone from running besides shooting them," she retorted.

"Sorry, Shepard. That was my fault," Garrus said.

"I'll forgive you, I guess," she said with a grin. "If you can forgive me for slamming you up against the wall and in general, being a giant bitch."

"Done," Garrus said with a smile. "I gotta go. Tali and I are..."

Izzy smirked. "You have a date." She could have sworn Garrus blushed.

"Yes."

"Lucky girl," she said. "Go on. Have fun. Depending on how this thing with Morinth goes, we may be here a couple of days anyway."

Garrus nodded and walked back towards the entrance of Afterlife.

Izzy turned back to Zaeed. "I... I'm sorry. For everything. I can't believe I actually believed that smug jackass over you. I mean, who the fuck keeps a message for 22 years?"

"You can't blame yourself, baby girl," he said quietly. "You probably had a concussion. We found blood on the catwalk where you had been."

She nodded. "Yeah, he knocked me out with a blow to the back of the head. When I woke up, I was... hell, I don't know where I was. But I was strapped to a chair so I couldn't use my biotics. Apparently he does learn," she added ruefully. "Anyway, he gave me the message, told me a bunch of what I now know is complete bullshit and sent me back to you guys."

"And why didn't you kill him? He couldn't have been unarmed."

"Of course he wasn't. Only time I have ever known him to be unarmed was... that time I stole his gun," she said with a smirk. "Why didn't I kill him? I don't kill people unless I have no other choice. And I know this may sound strange but, when it comes down to it, no matter how much of a jackass he is, Vido's still my father."

Zaeed sighed. "Yes, yes he is. And you just fully proved it."

She raised an eyebrow. "So. Are you gonna say 'I told you so' now?"

He shook his head and laughed. "No. Not this time anyway."


	16. Alcohol Makes Everything Clear

**Beta: pixelatrix  
Thanks for the review****:)  
Bioware owns all recognized characters. If you don't recognize them, they're probably mine.**

* * *

She thought they'd talked it out, but even days after they left Omega, Izzy still felt tense and nervous around Zaeed and Garrus. It could have been her imagination, but she thought they were keeping an unusually close and wary eye on her every move. As if at any second, they thought she was going to do a runner and go back to Vido.

The Normandy's next stop after Omega was Tuchunka. They needed to find out what was causing Grunt's extreme agitation before he punched a hole in the ship, or worse, one of the crew. And Mordin had come to Izzy with a plea to help find his old assistant, rumored to be on the krogan homeworld and in the hands of Blood Pack mercs. _At least it's not more fucking Blue Suns_, Izzy thought.

A chat with Wrex revealed that Grunt was just going through puberty. "Nothing to worry about," Wrex stated with a grin. Izzy and Garrus nearly cracked a rib apiece laughing about it. He, Tali and Joker stayed to talk with Wrex while Zaeed went with Izzy to help with Grunt's Rite of Passage. They came back two hours later with burns, bites and acid holes in their armor. Grunt was welcomed into Clan Urdnot and Wrex gave Izzy a large supply of ryncol as a "congrats on not being dead anymore" gift.

By the time they'd fought through the Blood Pack base, Izzy and Zaeed felt as if they'd just done Grunt's Rite of Passage two more times, minus the thresher maw. The "kidnapped" assistant turned out not to be so kidnapped after all, instead working willingly with the Pack to find a cure for the genophage. In the end, Mordin felt Maelon was too dangerous to allow him to live, though the doctor made a copy of the genophage notes "just in case."

When they got back to the ship, Kelly informed Izzy that Jack was a little more agitated than usual. "That's just fucking great. All we need is a super-biotic tearing up the engineering deck," Izzy muttered as she made her way to Deck 4.

Jack wanted to go to Pragia, to the Cerberus base where she'd been raised. She wanted to blow it up. Miranda strongly objected, but she strongly objected to Jack even being on the ship, so Izzy ignored her and had Joker set a course for Pragia.

Once again, Zaeed insisted on going on the mission. Izzy was beginning to wonder if he was ever going to trust her again. While Jack went to listen to reports the scientists at the facility had made to the Illusive Man, Izzy pulled Zaeed aside.

"What the fuck is going on?" she asked quietly. "I was under the impression things were OK between us now."

"We're fine," Zaeed insisted. "Have you never heard of 'forgive but never forget'?"

Ouch.

"I get it," she snapped, fighting the urge to punch him. "You 'forgive' me but you don't trust me. I'm sorry I asked." She stalked away from him and back to Jack, who was itching to move on.

By the time they'd cleared the facility of Blood Pack mercs and Jack had dealt with the delusional asshole who wanted to restart the fucking project, Izzy was in need of a massive amount of alcohol.

She was on her way to her quarters to crack open Wrex's gift when Joker informed her that Jack had gone to deck 3 to confront Miranda. Izzy really wasn't in the mood to put up with either of them, but Joker was pleading with her not to let them tear "his" ship apart, and she couldn't say no to him. Not to mention he had a point.

When she'd finally sorted out Jack and Miranda, forbidding them to be on the same deck at the same time _ever_, Izzy was more pissed off than ever and completely drained of energy. The light on her terminal was blinking. She'd planned to drink ryncol 'til she forgot Vido and Zaeed and everything else wrong in her life. The fucking messages could wait 'til later.

One very blurry hour later, Izzy had gone through at least 1/8th of the ryncol and wasn't feeling any better. If anything, she felt worse. All she wanted to do was curl up in a corner and die. But that damn light was still blinking and it wasn't likely to turn off by itself, so she grudgingly stumbled to the terminal and opened the first e-mail. It was from Kaidan, 'apologizing' for Horizon. Even as drunk as she was, Izzy could see straight through the apology to the insincerity underneath. He wasn't really apologizing for what he'd said. He'd meant every fucking word. She'd bet anything that Hackett had put him up to it and then not bothered to read it before he sent it. She started arguing with herself over whether or not to respond. In the end, stupidity won out and she responded.

_From: C. Shepard  
To: K. Alenko  
Subj: re: Horizon  
Your 'apology' has been rejected for bullshit overload.  
Shepard_

"Is that a Blue Suns tattoo?"

Izzy screamed and fell out of her desk chair. She looked up to see Zaeed standing just inside the doorway, arms crossed and looking decidedly pissed off.

"Yeah, it is. What the hell do you care?" she asked, the ryncol fueling the anger she'd been holding on to since Pragia. Truth be told, she'd forgotten about the tattoo, situated on the back of her left shoulder over the place both Vido's and Garrus' bullets had hit.

"Did Vido put you up to it?"

She shook her head, got dizzy and stopped. "No. It was 100% my idea." She remembered it being one of the first things she'd done once she joined Vido, because she knew it was likely to piss Zaeed off the most. "And you didn't answer my question. Why do you care?"

"Because..." Zaeed didn't have an answer for that. "Are you drunk?"

"Perhaps," Izzy slurred. "Again, why do you care?"

"People tend to do stupid things when they're drunk, Izzy."

"Already done," she said nodding very slowly towards the terminal where her reply to Kaidan still appeared on the screen.

"I see."

"You're doing it again," she said, frowning up at him. "Just... talk. No cryptic bullshit."

Zaeed hauled her to her feet and settled her on the couch, taking a seat across from her on the coffee table. "If we talk, will you remember it in the morning?"

"Maybe. But... something has to give," she said, temporarily forgetting that she'd wanted _him_ to talk. "I can't... You say I trust too easily. But, there's too few people I trust on this ship as it is. And if the people I _do_ trust don't trust me, then what's the point? I'll be all alone again. And I've been all alone too many times in my life. Vido was never there, then you... and I died alone, with nothing but my thoughts to keep me company while I slowly suffocated. And then I woke up alone, found out I'd been abandoned once again, by those I'd trusted."

Zaeed frowned. There was that word _abandoned_ again. "I... never..." His shoulders slumped and he found himself looking down at the floor. "I'm sorry."

She sounded confused. "Sorry for what?"

"While it is true that I honestly believed you were dead all those years, I don't know that it would have made a difference if I'd known otherwise. It wasn't that I didn't want... you were safest where you were, with Tobias. Being on the run with me would have been too dangerous."

"I know," she said quietly. "Or at least I do now. When I was little, I didn't... I couldn't have understood that. Do you know _why_ I went back to that alley every year?"

He looked at her then. "How did you know I knew about that?"

"James told me that he told you how we met," she said with a small smile. "And yes, that's _all_ he told me. Anyway, when I was little, the reason I went back there every year was because I was convinced that if you were alive, you would come find me. I left the flower, always a daisy so you'd know I was the one who had been there."

"I would know it was you because of the- oh right. Your middle name. Margarita."

She nodded. "Eventually though, I realized you must be dead or you would have come back already. And after that, I still went back but the daisy was a memorial." She sighed. "There's a possibility that's how Vido found out where I was in the first place."

"He's never known your middle name, baby girl," Zaeed said. "He wouldn't have known it was you."

"How the fuck can... never mind. It's Vido. No explanation necessary," Izzy said bitterly.

"And I'm sorry," Zaeed said after a few minutes of complete silence. "For anything I did or said that made you think I don't trust you."

"It was just... you and Garrus were... are... always around, one or both of you are on every mission. It's like you are just waiting for me to run off again. Like you think I still believe Vido's lies."

He sighed. "I guess we have been a little... overbearing. It's more about Vido wanting to take you back again."

"But it's not entirely that, is it? Some small part of you still thinks I'd go back to him willingly."

He shrugged. "You did once describe me as 'irrationally paranoid,'" he said.

"That I did," she said as she laid her head on the arm of the couch and stretched out. "That I did."

* * *

_A/N: Daisy is a common nickname for Margaret._


	17. This is It

**Beta: pixelatrix  
Thanks for the review****s****:)  
Bioware owns all recognized characters. If you don't recognize them, they're probably mine.**

* * *

Izzy slowly opened her eyes and winced at the light coming from the enormous fish tank, regretting every drop of ryncol she'd drunk the night before. She momentarily wondered how she'd gotten to her bed, until she looked over and saw Zaeed asleep on the couch. And then she remembered exactly _why_ she'd gotten drunk in the first place, and the conversation they'd had.

Before heading down to the mess for some much-needed coffee, she left a message on his omni-tool: _Ryncol is the devil. Also, I do remember the entire conversation. -Izzy PS: If you sleeping on my couch starts rumors, I'm going to shoot you. _

An hour later, Izzy, Grunt and Mordin were trapped on a long-derelict Reaper. The Illusive Man had indicated the IFF they needed to pass safely through the Omega-4 Relay would be here. But so far, all they'd seen were massive amounts of husks. And then... they encountered a geth. A geth who talked (it called Izzy Shepard-Commander) and was wearing a piece of Izzy's old N7 armor. They didn't see it again until they'd reached the core. To their surprise, it was attempting to take down the barriers so they could get through.

_What the fuck is going on? _Izzy wondered._ Geth don't help organics._

A group of husks overwhelmed the geth just as the barriers came down and the trio found themselves having to fight off the innumerable creatures while they tried to destroy the mass effect core. After a brief argument with Tali via the comm, Izzy made the decision to bring the geth aboard the Normandy.

As with Grunt before, Jacob made an argument against waking the geth. And Izzy completely understood his apprehension on this issue. He'd been on Eden Prime. She imagined Ashley would have had the same misgivings about having an active geth aboard, having lost her _entire_ unit on Eden Prime. But she also imagined Ash would have reacted in much the same way Kaidan had when she found out her former Commander was working for Cerberus.

Miranda's invitation to sell the geth to Cerberus was blatantly ignored. Izzy didn't even acknowledge that the woman had spoken. There was not a chance in hell she was going to give Cerberus _anything_ that could help them in the long-run.

In the end, Izzy decided to activate the geth, with all proper precautions taken beforehand. In talking with the machine, now named Legion, Izzy learned the geth were split into two factions: those who worshipped the "Old Machines" as they called the Reapers, and those who did not. Legion was part of the latter, and he wanted help in destroying the former.

EDI and Joker said they needed time to get the IFF installed before it could be tested. They dropped off Izzy, Garrus and Thane to investigate Project Overlord and then took Zaeed, Samara and Grunt to investigate Project Firewalker.

The Normandy arrived back at Aite a few days later to pick up Izzy and her squad. From the looks on their faces, as well as the injured young man they brought with them, it was obvious to everyone that Project Overlord had not ended well. Izzy immediately took David to see Dr. Chakwas after asking Joker to set a course for Grissom Academy.

After dropping David off with the director of the Academy, Joker informed Izzy that the IFF was ready for testing. While Joker and EDI were testing, Izzy took the rest of her crew in the shuttle to the Heretic Station to help Legion destroy the virus that had divided the geth. They and Tali were in the middle of trying to escape the station, fighting a Geth Prime, when Garrus called over the comm to say they'd received an urgent message from EDI: the Collectors had boarded the Normandy; every single crew member except Joker had been taken.

There was nothing they could do except go through the Omega-4 Relay. Izzy wasn't about to let the crew go without a fight.

* * *

In the intervening hours before the jump to the relay, Izzy sent a message to Admiral Hackett and a chat request to James.

_From: Cmdr. Shepard  
To: Adm. Hackett  
Subj: This is It  
We're going through the relay in a few hours.  
I have a favor to ask, sir. If I don't make it back, please make sure Lt. Vega doesn't do anything... stupid.  
And in case I've never said it before, thanks for taking a chance on me all those years ago.  
Shepard_

She rolled her eyes at Hackett's reply.

_From: Adm. Hackett  
To: Cmdr. Shepard  
Subj: You're Welcome  
And I'm sorry, Shepard, but I won't grant you that favor, because you will be coming back.  
Hackett _

She'd just finished a message to Emilio when James finally responded to her chat request.

"Lola? What's going on? Are you OK?" he asked, his voice laced with concern.

"Not really." Izzy sighed. "We're leaving soon. The Collectors took my crew. I have to get them back."

"Leaving? Leaving what?"

"We're going through the Omega-4 Relay."

"Holy shit, Lola! No one-"

"No one's ever successfully navigated it, yeah I know.

"Be... no. Just come back alive. OK?"

"I'll try."

"No, Lola," he said firmly. "You must come back alive. Please."

She nodded.

"I'll be waiting to hear from you when you get back, _mi amor_."

"I love you, James."

He smiled. "I love you too, Lola."

* * *

Two days later, the Normandy was back on the right side of the relay. The Collectors were dead, Izzy's entire squad and crew were alive. And they were finally free of Cerberus. Izzy still hated Miranda but trusted her slightly more after she told the Illusive Man to fuck off. While enroute to Omega for repairs, Izzy did the same.


	18. The Admiral's Favor

**Beta: pixelatrix  
Thanks for the review ****:)  
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* * *

While they waited for repairs to the Normandy, the crew decided to celebrate. Before the scheduled party in Afterlife, Izzy went to a tattoo artist that Zaeed knew and got a phrase tattooed on the inside of her left arm: _What doesn't kill me had better start running_. She "dedicated" the tattoo to the Collectors.

Later, she was enjoying the party with her crew when she received an urgent request for a vid-comm chat from Admiral Hackett. She grudgingly left her team and made her way back to the ship.

"Evening, Admiral," she said with a salute.

Hackett raised an eyebrow. "Are you drunk, Commander?"

"Yes, sir. Well, not entirely drunk yet but... we're celebrating."

"I see."

Izzy mentally rolled her eyes. _Are men not capable of saying anything else?_

"I... need a favor, Shepard."

"Sir?"

"A friend of mine has been arrested by the batarians. I need you to go to the prison on Aratoht and pull her out. Alone."

"Why me, sir?"

"Because N7 operatives are trained for this kind of thing. And you're the best of the best, Shepard."

Izzy blushed a little. "Thank you, sir. I... I'll leave ASAP."

"Very good. Send me a message when you return. Hackett out."

* * *

It was nearly three days before anyone heard a word from Izzy. When they did, it was her screaming at Joker to get to the asteroid where she was currently and pick her up ASAP. As soon as she was inside the airlock, she was telling him to get out of the system immediately. Enroute to the Sol System, everyone saw exactly why: the system they'd just been in had disappeared from the galaxy map.

Izzy woke up in the med-bay twelve hours later with no recollection of how she got there. She heard raised voices at the end of the ward and looked over to see Zaeed and Admiral Hackett in the midst of a heated argument.

She cleared her throat loudly as she carefully sat up and curled up with her knees under her chin. "Excuse me, gentlemen. I believe you have confused Dr. Chakwas' med-bay with a war room."

The argument stopped abruptly as both men turned at the sound of her voice and walked over to her. Zaeed sat on the edge of her bed and the Admiral leaned against the one opposite.

"Alright, out with it. Who's mad at who and why?" she asked, looking from one to the other.

"Massani is angry with me for sending you on the mission," Hackett said.

Izzy looked at Zaeed. "He asked me for a favor. I could have said no." She looked back at Hackett. "Right?"

The admiral nodded. "Yes, you could have. And I wouldn't have thought any less of you for doing so."

"Anything else?"

"The batarians want your head, Shepard. They are insisting you stand trial for war crimes against their people."

"And the admiral isn't doing a goddamn thing to help," Zaeed snarled.

Hackett rolled his eyes. "I am doing _everything_ I can to keep Shepard out of a batarian prison."

"She wouldn't make it to the prison. She'd be dead the second she set foot on-"

"Oi! I am still sitting right here," Izzy said. "Quit talking about me like I'm not here."

"Sorry," the two men said simultaneously.

"Thank you." She looked to the admiral again. "So what do you need me to do, sir?"

"Lay low for a bit. You're obviously going to have to stand trial at some point, but I'm trying to get that to be on Earth. For... working with Cerberus or something."

"Fair enough."

"And you'll need a bodyguard." Hackett held up a hand when Zaeed started to speak. "An _Alliance_ bodyguard."

"I know just the man for the job," Izzy said with a small smile. "If uh... you approve, sir?"

Hackett raised an eyebrow. "I'll have to talk to Anderson."

"_He_ knows?"

The admiral rolled his eyes. "You're a Spectre, Shepard. The Council knows _everything_ about you."

"Right. I... forgot. Please, Admiral."

"I'll see what I can do Shepard. Do you know where he is at the moment?"

Izzy narrowed her eyes. "You mean _you_ don't know where he is, sir?"

"No. Don't worry, he hasn't gone AWOL. He's on extended shore leave and hasn't checked in since before the Normandy went through the Omega-4 Relay."

She sighed. "Last time I talked to him, he was headed for Omega. We were supposed to meet then, but then you called and..."

The admiral smiled apologetically. "Poor timing on my part... or the batarians' part, I should say."

"As far as I know, he's still there. I can talk to Aria if need be."

"Wait 'til I talk to Anderson before you start making plans," Hackett said. "I'll be in contact shortly. Or Anderson will be. Either way, you'll know soon enough."

Izzy saluted as Hackett started towards the door. "Thank you, sir."

* * *

Two days later, the Normandy got another visitor, in the former of Councilor Anderson himself. He was accompanied by two turian Spectres.

"I don't like this, Shepard," Anderson said as he sat across from Izzy in the observation lounge.

"Don't like what, sir?"

"You and Lt. Vega have a history..."

"It's not history, sir. It's... current."

"All the more reason to hesitate," Anderson insisted. "The admiralty isn't going to like this."

"Sir, at the moment, an entire species wants me dead, not to mention Cerberus and anyone who highly resented my working for them. I need someone I can trust with my life. At the moment, there are only three people I would trust for this job. And only one of them is an Alliance soldier."

"I still don't know."

Izzy sighed. "Bottom line, sir. Neither of us would ever do anything that would put the other's job in jeopardy. Ever. He is an Alliance soldier to the bone, whether he likes to admit it or not."


	19. James and the Giant Reunion Special

**Beta: pixelatrix  
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* * *

James threw his cards down and ripped the TV off the wall. He wasn't going to sit and watch the woman he loved being blasted by reporters for her actions in defending the galaxy against a potential Reaper invasion. She _may_ have blown up a mass relay and the resulting explosion _may_ have destroyed an entire star system and killed 300,000 batarians, but she was still a fucking hero.

"I'll pay for the damage out of my winnings," he muttered to the bartender as he got up to leave. The five batarians he had been playing cards with stood up as well.

"You're not going anywhere, Shepard-lover," the biggest one said menacingly.

James cracked his neck as he pulled his blade and prepared to fight, but the batarians suddenly backed off when a soft but deadly voice from the doorway spoke up.

"Actually, he is. If you make any attempt to follow him, you'll have to deal with me," Aria T'Loak warned. "And you don't want to deal with me."

James whispered a quick thanks to Aria and made a swift exit to the hall, the batarians shouting obscenities as he closed the door behind him. But he stopped short when he saw Councilor Anderson standing in the middle of the hall. He looked over the Councilor's shoulder and noticed a woman wearing a black leather duster over a cleavage-bearing black halter top, jeans and motorcycle boots, standing between two well-armed turians. He couldn't see her face for the hood she wore, but something about her was oddly familiar. And, despite her current clothing choices, the determined and defiant way she stood told James that she was definitely military.

He crossed his arms over his massive chest. "Councilor, whatever _this_ is, I can guarantee the answer is no. Actually, better make that _hell no_."

Anderson shook his head. "My source assured me you'd say yes. I'm not the one who's asking, Lieutenant."

"Sir, with all due respect, your 'source' is dead wrong. There's not a single person in the entire goddamn Alliance, military or not, that I would say 'yes' to right now," James growled as he started walking away.

As he passed the mystery woman and the turians, she reached out, grabbed his hand and pressed something oddly hard and sharp into his palm. He looked down and saw a familiar tattoo, a rosary on her wrist and hand, before she pulled the hand away and he saw what she'd put in his: a set of heavily-damaged Alliance dog tags with a familiar silver-and-black-diamond ring melted into them.

He looked back up and found himself staring into the golden brown eyes of his beloved Lola.

Ignoring the wary glances of the guards, James kissed her hand and laced his fingers through hers as he protectively wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back against his chest. As they turned back, he saw the amused expression on the Councilor's face.

James rolled his eyes. "Alright, so there's _one_."

Anderson raised an eyebrow at Izzy. "Shepard, what's your secret? That took all of thirty seconds."

She only smiled mysteriously as she rested her head against James' chest.

The Councilor chuckled as he looked at James again. "And like I said, she knew you'd say yes. But, aren't you going to ask what the job is before you agree to anything?"

James shook his head. "It doesn't matter. There's nothing I wouldn't do for her. Based on the news reports I've been seeing, she's pissed off at least half the galaxy and so I'm going to assume she needs a bodyguard. Therefore, she needs someone she knows and literally trusts with her life. And, knowing her as well as I do, I know she is exceptionally stubborn-" Izzy elbowed him in the side. "And probably flat-out refused to cooperate with whatever bullshit you people have planned if it wasn't me."

Anderson nodded. "I wouldn't have put it _quite_ like that, but, yes. Now, since I really don't entirely trust Aria to keep the gentlemen down the hall in check for very long, I suggest we move."

Izzy, who had settled back into James' strong embrace, finally spoke up. "We have one stop to make before we head to the Citadel to drop off my crew."

"Hackett is going to have kittens when he finds out the reason you delayed coming back to Earth," Anderson said after Izzy told him they needed to stop by the Quarian Flotilla.

"Yeah, well, he'll get over it," Izzy said with a wink. "He knew what he was getting into when he recruited me 14 years ago."

"If you say so."

"We'll be back in a couple of days at most, OK? Tali you ready to do this?"

The quarian sighed. "I guess so. I still think you're taking an awful risk in doing this, Shepard. I told you I could come on my own."

"You were always the voice of reason on Shepard's crew, Tali," Anderson said fondly. "But you know how stubborn she is."

"This has nothing to do with being stubborn," Izzy protested. "The point is, she's part of my crew and needs my help. She's getting it. Period."

* * *

The moment Izzy, Garrus and Tali stepped through the airlock and onto the Rayya, Zaeed pulled James aside.

"We need to talk."

James raised an eyebrow. "About what?"

"You and my niece."

"What-"

Zaeed reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. "Remember our talk? And how I told you to propose again?"

"Yes... I'm sorry but... are you proposing to _me_ now?"

Zaeed rolled his eyes. "No, idiot. I'm giving this to you to give to her. It was my mother's engagement ring. I gave it to Vido when he proposed to my sister. When she died, I took it back, without Vido's knowledge."

"So... it's a family thing, plus it'll piss off Vido?" James grinned. "I approve."

* * *

When Izzy and her squad finally made it back to the Normandy, James had a plan, one that wouldn't have worked if Admiral Hackett hadn't felt guilty about his role in Izzy's impending incarceration. In getting the admiral's help, James and Zaeed had also told him the reason they were currently delayed. So when Izzy called Hackett on the vid-comm, he was ready with the appropriate amount of outrage.

"I don't fucking believe it," Hackett said incredulously. "You delayed coming to Earth to stand trial so you could play lawyer for one of your crew while _she_ stood trial?"

"Yes, sir," Izzy said, trying not to grin. She could feel James behind her, shaking with silent laughter.

"Did you at least win?"

Izzy crossed her arms and gave the admiral a pointed look.

He rolled his eyes. "Of course you did. If you hadn't you'd probably be drunk or off shooting something right now. You realize I could charge you with kidnapping, yes?"

"No, sir. I'm a Spectre, so technically I was, uh, protecting the Councilor. Besides, he brought two Spectres along for the ride, so he was perfectly safe. Not to mention if he hadn't wanted to be here, he could have left at any time prior to our going to the Fleet."

Hackett rolled his eyes again. "Well, I hope you had your fun, Shepard. The Admiralty Board are just about to the point of throwing you in the brig, no trial and throwing away the key."

"Yes, sir. I told you I'd come stand trial when I'd settled everything with my crew. I've done that, and everyone, including Anderson, departed the ship this morning. The only ones left are myself, James, Joker of course (as if he'd let anyone else pilot the ship) and Dr. Chakwas. She insisted."

"Very well. Then we will see you in Vancouver in approximately 14 hours."

"Sir?" Izzy and James saluted.

"No more delays. Hackett out."

Izzy turned to James. "Why did he say 14 hours? It only takes half that to get from the Citadel to Earth."

He grinned. "Yes, yes it does."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "What's going on?"

"Hackett may have... been guilted into letting us take a quick trip to see Emilio before we head to Vancouver."

"Guilted?"

"By Zaeed."

She sighed. "Of course."

"Unless you rather just go straight to Vancouver," James said with a smirk.

"Hell no. I just... hope this trip to see Emilio goes better than the last."

James wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "I guarantee it."


	20. One Last Taste of Freedom

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* * *

The Normandy stayed at the Citadel for a few more hours while James and Izzy took a separate transport to Earth. When they landed in San Diego, they had six hours left until the shuttle would pick them up to take them to the Normandy, which would then travel on to Vancouver.

Emilio welcomed them with open arms and a large lunch. After lunch, while Izzy was updating Admiral Hackett, James told Emilio about his plan to redo the proposal.

"That's beautiful," the elder Vega said with a smile as he looked at the ring. "She'll love it."

"She better or I'm screwed," James lamented.

"I better what?" Izzy asked as she walked back into the room. She looked between the two men suspiciously. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, nothing," James said as he quickly shoved the ring into his pocket. "Let's... go for a walk."

"Where are we going?" Izzy asked as she and James left the house.

"What makes you think we're going anywhere specific?" he asked with a grin.

"Because you, James Vega, are not the 'let's go take a walk' type," she said pointedly.

He shrugged. "I just figured you'd like to savor the last taste of freedom you'll have for awhile."

She lightly punched him in the arm. "Thanks for the reminder, Vega. Seriously, where are we going?"

He smirked as he laced his fingers through hers. "Impatient much?" She glared at him and he chuckled. "It's a surprise, Lola."

They walked on in silence for a few minutes, Izzy resting her head against James' shoulder. They passed the Catholic high school they'd both attended, the park where they'd spent many weekends, the cafe where they'd had their first shore-leave date.

After awhile, James leaned down to whisper in Izzy's ear. "Close your eyes, Lola."

She knew why. They were now close to being in sight of St. Mark's. Once was enough; she didn't think she could handle seeing the burnt remains of her childhood home again.

As soon as her eyes were closed, James carefully led her past the church and down a side street.

"Where are we going?" she asked again.

"We're almost there," he said quietly.

They stopped suddenly and James pulled Izzy into a deep kiss before he pulled away slightly, still holding her hands.

"Can I open my eyes yet?"

"Yes."

Izzy opened her eyes and let out a squeak. James was no longer standing but kneeling in front of her. "What is this? You... we..."

"That day I proposed on the Citadel, it wasn't the way I'd planned it. But everything I'd planned seemed stupid. Still, I have been wanting to do over the proposal ever since. I had planned to do it again when you came back from your last mission. But then it was too late because you _didn't_ come back. I don't know what will happen to either of us in the future and I'm not making the same mistake twice." He held up the ring. "Lola, _mi amor, __¿Quieres casarte conmigo?_"

"I... oh my God. That... that's... gorgeous! I-I mean _yes_! Of course!"

James chuckled as he put the ring on her finger and stood again, pulling her into his arms. She laid her head on his chest and brought her hand up to look at the ring.

"This looks old, James. Like a family heirloom or something. Where'd you get it?"

"It is. Your uncle gave it to me. It was your grandmother's and then your mother's."

"Wow. That's..." She raised her head to look at him. "Vido gave it to him willingly?"

James shook his head. "No, apparently Zaeed took it back when your mom died. Vido didn't know."

"Wow. This is going to piss Vido off so much," she said with a smirk.

"That's the idea, Lola."

Izzy suddenly looked around and realized- "We're in the alley-"

"Where we first met," James finished for her. "Zaeed told me that I had to be romantic this time or he'd shoot me."

She grinned. "Well, I think you succeeded."

* * *

**A/N: _¿Quieres casarte conmigo?_ - Will you marry me?**


	21. Six Months Later

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Thanks for the review****:)  
Bioware owns all recognized characters. If you don't recognize them, they're probably mine.**

* * *

Izzy stared out the window, watching a little boy playing with a model Alliance ship in the yard across the way. She'd been stuck in the detention center in Vancouver for six months. She was sick of her room, sick of the same questions being asked every fucking day and sick of being stuck on Earth. She wanted to be on her goddamn ship. The only bright spot in her dreary existence was that James was there with her.

As if he knew she was thinking about him, James suddenly appeared in the doorway. "Hey, Shepard. We gotta go."

Izzy raised an eyebrow. "Shepard? And where?"

James shook his head. "Bunch of Alliance brass outside. Thought I should... be official. As for where, the Defense Committee wants to see you."

"Again?" she said as she walked to the door. "Because they think I've figured out a different way to say the same shit that I've been saying for six months?"

He chuckled. "Sorry."

* * *

Several minutes later, they were standing outside the conference room with Anderson. The Admiral walked away for a moment, leaving Izzy and James to talk.

"I..." Now that it came to it, Izzy couldn't think of a damn thing to say. She and James had been together practically all day every day for six months, the longest time they'd spent together in 14 years. Some sense of foreboding, with everything Anderson had said about Hackett mobilizing the fleets, made her think that once she stepped through those doors, there was no guarantee she was going to see James again.

He smiled as if, once again, he could read her mind. "I know, Lola. We'll be OK though. No matter what happens."

Behind her, Izzy heard Anderson say "Nice to see you again, Major. How'd it go in there?"

She tensed when a familiar but unwelcome male voice answered, "Ok, I guess. Now I'm just waiting for orders." Then obviously he saw her, as he said with disdain, "Shepard?"

Izzy whipped around at the sound of her name and rolled her eyes as she saw what she already knew: Kaidan Alenko was standing with the Admiral. James growled and possessively wrapped his arms around his fiancée's waist.

"Oh great. One of only two people in the entire galaxy I'd hoped I would never have to see again," Izzy scowled as Kaidan and Anderson walked up to them. "And in case there's any confusion, I do mean you, Major Alenko."

She practically spat his name at him before looping her arm through Anderson's and stalking off, dragging the bewildered Admiral after her.

James furiously glared at Kaidan as they walked away from the room Izzy and Anderson had entered.

"I need answers, Alenko."

"Excuse me?"

"Why did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Quit playing stupid. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Horizon. Why'd you do it?"

"I don't know, Vega. I was angry when I saw her. She had been back for two months and hadn't bothered to contact me. I knew Joker and Dr. Chakwas were with her and Garrus was with her on the ground, so why not me or any of the rest of the crew?"

"She didn't know where any of you guys were. She didn't really have a say in having Joker and the doc onboard, though she wasn't unhappy about it at all. And connecting with Garrus was a complete coincidence."

"And then she told me that she was working for Cerberus. And I just snapped. I hadn't even truly believed she was alive until that moment, and then she shows up working with _them_. What was I supposed to do?"

James was having a hard time controlling the anger in his voice. "Fuck, Alenko, you could have actually let her explain what was going on before you decided to call her a goddamn traitor! She was your Commander. She would have walked through Hell for any one of her crew. And then after everything you said, all you could think to do was send her an e-mail? Did you seriously think that was going to make it better?"

"Well, it's not like I could go see her. And to be honest, I didn't even want to see her again."

"Actually, you could have seen her, any time she was on the Citadel. But, basically what you're saying is, even though you apologized in the e-mail, you didn't actually mean it? That's great, Alenko. God, you're such a douche."

Before Kaidan could reply, an explosion rocked the building and sent them both hurtling backwards.

"What the hell was that?" James asked, the panic evident in his voice as he and Kaidan ran back the way they'd come.

"Don't know, but whatever it was it doesn't sound good."

Suddenly, they both heard Anderson's voice on their comm links. "-one? I repeat. This is Admiral Anderson. Come in, anyone!"

"Lt. Commander Vega here. What happened down there?" James asked.

"The Reapers landed, that's what bloody happened. We took a direct hit from a Reaper beam here."

"Fuck! What about Commander Shepard? Is she still with you?"

"Yes. She's... fine," Anderson said. "Listen, there's no way to get through from where you are. I've been trying to raise the Normandy but can't get through. You keep trying and head that way and let them know we're heading there from our end."

"Alright, we'll see you when you get there. Vega out."

* * *

An hour later, Izzy was finally back on the Normandy. That last firefight with batarian Reapers almost ended in complete disaster. And now, she'd left Anderson behind. He'd insisted.

She opened a comm link to the cockpit as she walked towards the armor locker. "Joker, we're clear-"

Kaidan, who was walking towards her, interrupted. "What the hell? Where's Anderson?"

"He's not coming and we're leavin'," Izzy said. "And who the fuck let you on my ship?"

"Don't change the subject. Why the fuck are we leaving? The fight is here!" The look on Kaidan's face was one of pure hatred, all of it directed at Izzy.

"Well, if you're so keen on staying, go jump out of the fucking shuttle bay door. I certainly won't stop you," she said, anger rising in her voice. "I have orders to go to the Citadel, to talk to the Council."

She turned to walk away but Kaidan grabbed her wrist and spun her back around into his arms.

"Since when do you follow Alliance orders, Shepard?" he hissed in her ear. "Last I heard, you were still Cerberus' favorite bitch."

"Ok seriously, Kaidan, what the fuck did I ever do to you?" Izzy tried to wrench her arm out of Kaidan's grasp and he responded by squeezing harder. She gasped at the pain in her wrist and he grabbed her hair, roughly pulling her head forward and mashed his lips against hers, shoving his tongue in her mouth.

James, just reaching out to yank Kaidan off his feet by his neck, jumped out of the way when he saw Izzy glowing blue, seconds before Kaidan went flying across the shuttle bay, hitting the elevator with a loud thunk.

Izzy stumbled back a bit but remained standing.

"You OK, Lola?" James asked, concern in his eyes.

"I'm fine," she said with a small smile.

James walked over and picked Kaidan up by the throat and slammed him into the nearest wall. The look in his eyes was one of pure hatred. "Alenko, if you _ever_ touch Shepard without her permission...no, fuck that. If you ever touch her again, period, I will hurt you in ways you can't even imagine. And then I'll kill you."

Kaidan looked around at Izzy. "A little help here?" he wheezed. "Mind telling your bodyguard to stand the fuck down?"

She narrowed her eyes. "I wouldn't dream of helping you right now, Major. Besides, the last time I got between James and another guy during a fight, I ended up in the hospital. So help yourself, jackass."


	22. Worried

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* * *

The next few hours flew by in a blur. On the way to the Citadel, Hackett had contacted the Normandy, requesting they make a pitstop on Mars to pick up Liara. If escaping the Reapers on Earth had been a disaster, it had been nothing compared to what awaited Izzy, James and a very pissed off Kaidan on Mars. As if they didn't have enough to worry about with the invasion, they now had to deal with Cerberus. And Cerberus didn't play by anyone's definition of fair rules. By the time the Normandy left Mars and resumed its course towards the Citadel, all four of them had been either shot, beaten or both, and Liara was now in a coma that they all prayed she'd recover from.

The second they arrived on the Citadel, Bailey was there to greet them along with a team of medics who whisked Liara away to Huerta Memorial. The others followed them so they could get patched up before they went to see the Council.

The meeting with the Council was a bust. Despite Udina's pleading, or maybe because of it, the others refused to help Earth until they were sure their own homeworlds were secure. Everyone left the meeting in a worse mood than they'd had going into it.

An hour later, James paced impatiently in the hall outside of Councilor Udina's office. Izzy and Kaidan had gone in with Udina and Sparatus, the Turian Councilor, to discuss options.

Suddenly, the door opened and Izzy hobbled out, arm in arm with Sparatus. They turned and shook hands and Sparatus leaned in to whisper something in Izzy's ear that made her smile before he turned and walked away.

"What happened in there?" James asked as he walked over to Izzy. "And where's Major Grabby-Hands?"

"Very mature, James," Izzy said with a scowl, though there was still a hint of laughter in her voice. "We're off to Palaven, to pick up the Primarch for a war council. And the Major will no longer be a problem. The Council reaffirmed my Spectre status and offered to make him one as well. I not so subtly hinted that he was not welcome on my ship ever again and he'd better jump at the offer in front of him or I was going to tell Hackett about him attacking me. So he'll be staying here on the Citadel as Councilor Udina's personal bodyguard."

"Udina is paranoid. The rest of the Councilors don't have personal bodyguards. Alenko will be bored within a month," James said with a chuckle. "Nothing ever happens here on the Citadel."

"Yeah, I know," Izzy said as she looped her arm through his. "But his well-being is no longer my concern. Come on, I need to send an update to Hackett. Also need to tell Feron what happened to Liara. That's not a conversation I'm looking forward to having."

* * *

Two days later, they were back on the Citadel, having picked up the Primarch along with Garrus. It was when the turian sniper was talking about his father and sister being on Palaven with no way to escape that James noticed the incredibly worried look on Izzy's face.

"I'm sure he's fine," he whispered in her ear as they stood at the bar in Purgatory. "Zaeed's tough and smart. The Reapers won't get him."

"I guess. What about Vido?"

James raised an eyebrow. "What about him? You're worried about Vido? Really?"

She shrugged. "He may be a jackass but he's still my dad. Aren't you worried about Emilio and your dad?"

"Emilio, sure. Or I would be if I hadn't heard from him; he's on his way to the Citadel. Josh, on the other hand, can rot with the Reapers for all I care."

Izzy frowned. "James, that's horrible."

He downed a shot of whiskey before responding. "If the Reaper invasion happened 14 years ago, when Vido first contacted you again, you'd be saying the same damn thing about _him_."


	23. An Unlikely Alliance

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* * *

Izzy was going to fucking _kill_ Aria. The Queen of Omega, having been ousted by Cerberus, was now a refugee like everyone else on the Citadel. But that didn't stop her from doling out orders as if she was still sitting on her goddamn throne. She'd _graciously_ offered Izzy the combined fighting force of Omega's gangs, _if_ the Commander could persuade them to unite under Aria's rule again.

Izzy bypassed Jona Sederis, the utterly psychotic bitch with intense blood lust, in favor of her second in striking a deal with the Eclipse. And, while she was wary of Narl's plan to get the Blood Pack's cooperation, it turned out well enough. She should have known it wasn't going to be that easy with the Suns. It never was.

Aria had said Donner Vosque, the man who had replaced Tarak as head of Omega's Blue Suns, would be in the refugee camp. He wasn't. That didn't sit well with Izzy. She'd been hoping James and Garrus, who were playing poker with some of the refugees, could be her inconspicuous back-up if things went wrong. Because with the Suns, odds were _never_ in her favor. But outside of the camp, James was anything but invisible, so she was going to have to go alone.

A beep on her omni-tool broke into her thoughts. It was a message from Vido: _Donner Vosque is not a patient man, Isadora. Nor is he as forgiving as I am. You don't want to keep him waiting._

So, Vido was alive, and apparently on the Citadel. Izzy wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. As much as she _loathed_ the idea of asking Vido for help, she didn't seem to have a choice. She sent a reply: _I wouldn't have to keep him waiting if I knew where the fuck he was. Obviously you __do know__, so tell me. And the idea of you being forgiving is fucking laughable._

"Temper temper, Isadora." Izzy jumped and spun around to see Vido leaning against the wall, smirking at her. "And did you learn nothing from our conversation on the catwalks?"

"Stop _doing_ that!" she growled as soon as her heart dropped out of her throat. "Unless your aim is to kill me by giving me a fucking heart attack?"

He chuckled. "If I wanted you dead, I wouldn't have shot you in the _shoulder_ all those years ago."

She scoffed. "Why don't I believe you? Oh right. Because you're a fucking liar and the last time we talked, you fucking kidnapped me."

"But I didn't kill you." He shrugged. "No, it's because you're as paranoid as your uncle. Trust me sweetheart, when I want you dead, you will know it. I will be the one to kill you. And it'll be a bullet, not a heart attack. I'm not cruel."

Izzy rolled her eyes. "Says the man who shot his own daughter. Just tell me where the fuck to find Vosque so I can stop talking to you."

"Say please."

Izzy growled. "Tell me now, or I'll shoot you," she said. "Don't forget what I said on Omega."

"If you intended to kill me, you'd have done it already," Vido said. "And I happen to know you're unarmed."

_Fuck. Smug bastard._ "Fine. Answer one question and I'll say it."

"If your question is do I know where Massani is, the answer is no. Not in the last week and a half anyway." He raised an eyebrow. "But why ask me? Thought you had an asari to answer these kinds of questions?"

Izzy sighed. "Liara's..." She didn't think it wise to tell him the Shadow Broker was temporarily incapacitated. "Never mind. Just tell me where Vosque is." She rolled her eyes. "Please."

Vido chuckled. "Good girl. Last I saw him, he was on the Presidium commons, near the apartments."

"Son of a bitch. I was just there," she growled as she started walking towards the elevator. She turned back for a moment to face Vido. "Don't follow me."

* * *

"Liar. You said he was near the apartments," she hissed over the comm when she arrived on the Presidium five minutes later. "He's n-"

"Well, well," Vosque said as he stepped out of one of the apartments at the opposite end of the hall from where she'd just met Narl. "Aria has Isadora Santiago on a leash. But I think someone needs to teach the little pet some manners. It's rude to keep people waiting."

"Go to hell, Vosque. I would have been on time if you were where Aria said you'd be. And I am _not_ her pet."

"No, you're _mine_," he said as he reached a hand out to touch her.

She slapped him. Hard. "In your fucking dreams, Vosque."

Seconds later, she found herself being slammed into the wall just inside the apartment, Vosque's hand on her throat.

"Touch me again, bitch, and I promise, it will be the _last_ thing you do," he snarled, his face mere inches from hers.

"Fuck you," she squeaked as his grip tightened.

He chuckled darkly. "Is that a promise, sweetheart?"

Izzy was panicking, thinking of what she could do to get away from him. With his hand on her throat, she couldn't use biotics unless she really wanted to risk him breaking her neck. And because she'd dressed in civvies to blend in at the refugee camp, her only weapon at the moment was the knife she couldn't reach that was tucked into her boot.

She was distracted from her distressing thoughts by Vosque's free hand, which had started roaming her body. She tried to push his hand away but only succeeded in having him capture both her wrists and slam them into the wall over her head. The hand on her throat moved down and resumed where the other had left off, unbuttoning her jeans.

As Vosque's hand slid into her pants, Izzy suddenly saw a pistol being pressed against his temple. "Take your hands off my daughter," Vido growled. "Now."

"Where the fuck..." Vosque muttered a litany of curses as he released his hold on Izzy and she slid to the floor, shaking violently.

Vido shoved Vosque into a corner. "Explain," he snarled.

Vosque opened his mouth to say something and Vido stuck the barrel of the gun in his mouth. "Never mind. I don't want your fucking excuses," he said as he pulled the trigger. The body hit the floor and Vido shot him twice more in the head.

As he was turning away from Vosque, James came crashing through the door. He looked from Vosque's body in the corner, to Vido with the gun in his hand to Izzy, who was still huddled and shaking on the floor.

"Lola? What... are those _bruises_?" he asked as he picked her up off the floor and wrapped his arms around her. He glared at Vido. "What the _hell_ did you do to her?"

"Not a goddamn-" Vido was cut off by James' fist connecting with his face. He staggered back against the wall. As he lunged forward, Izzy extracted herself from James' grasp and stepped between them.

"Stop!" She put a hand on Vido's chest and pushed him back, her other hand attempting to hold James back. It didn't work. Both men lunged forward and Izzy was suddenly on her ass on the floor. "OK, that's it. You don't have to worry about trying to kill each other," she snarled. "Because I'm going to do it for you!"

Vido and James looked down to see Izzy glaring at them as she cradled her right wrist in her left arm.

"Apparently I never learn," she muttered as they carefully helped her to her feet. They both started apologizing and she growled. "Zip it. Both of you. I don't want to hear your fucking apologies. Yet. This is what's going to happen. _I_ am going back to the Normandy to see Dr. Chakwas. Meanwhile, you two are going to call a goddamn truce. I don't want to hear a word from either of you until you have agreed on that."

Without a backwards glance at either of them, Izzy walked out of the apartment. Straight into Zaeed.


	24. You Can Call Me Isadora

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* * *

"Zani?" Izzy threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. "What are you doing here?"

"Got stranded like everyone else," he said gruffly. He looked at her with concern as he pulled back from the hug. "Who the bloody hell gave you those bruises?" he asked, gently tilting her head so he could see the one on her neck.

"Long story. Don't really want to talk about it right now," she said as she looped her arm through his and dragged him away from the apartment before he could see who was inside.

"Where are we going and why in such a hurry, baby girl?" he asked, trying to slow her down a bit.

"Dr. Chakwas," she said. "I may um... have a broken wrist."

Zaeed stopped abruptly. "What the fuck is going on, Izzy? Who was in that apartment?"

"A dead guy and two jackasses."

"So, someone who pissed you off and..."

"No, more like someone who crossed a big fucking line," she said darkly as she resumed walking.

He frowned. "Izzy?"

"I'll tell you later. Right now, I just want to get my wrist looked at."

Zaeed raised an eyebrow. "Then why don't you just go to the hospital?"

Izzy sighed. "If you were a doctor at that hospital and you saw a woman covered in bruises, would you believe her if she said it wasn't because her boyfriend was beating her?"

"Point taken." He looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Vega _isn't_ beating you, is he?"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course not."

Having gotten her wrist wrapped with minimal questions from Dr. Chakwas, Izzy attempted to explain to Zaeed what had happened. He nearly shot through the skylight in her quarters when she told him Vido was the one who had saved her from Vosque.

"What's his angle now?" Zaeed wondered aloud.

"There's no angle," Izzy protested.

"Like hell there's not," he said. "With Vido, there is _always_ an angle. He's trying to draw you in again, that much is obvious, but he's never gone this far to do it."

"This wasn't Vido," she said. "This was Vosque. Period. But as for your theory of Vido not ever going this far, yes, he has. Remember Pritchard? Same basic concept, much less painful outcome for me. Though same fucking _reason_ for the outcome. Seriously, never try to break up a fight James is involved in."

Izzy didn't hear whatever Zaeed's reply was, as James came over the comm.

"Can we talk?" he asked. He sounded nervous.

"Who's 'we'?"

"Vido's not dead, if that's what you're asking. Yes, all three of us."

"Four. Zaeed's here."

"Oh. Shit."

"Who the bloody hell are you talking to, Izzy?" Zaeed asked.

She ignored him. "When and where?"

"Vido suggested Purgatory. Twenty minutes?"

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Izzy was standing in front of Aria, telling her what had happened with the "meeting" with Vosque.

"He's... dead," Aria said flatly.

"Extremely dead, yes," Izzy said with a small smile.

"So. Does that mean you didn't get a deal with the Suns?"

Izzy scoffed. "Oh please. I don't need that fucker to get the Suns. I can go straight to the top. Wish I'd just done that in the first place."

"Sure, but then we wouldn't be rid of the creep who thought he was the universe's gift to women."

"True. Oh shit," Izzy muttered. She'd been keeping an eye on the door, waiting for James and Vido. Zaeed had just seen them and started stalking towards them. "Aria, nice chatting with ya, but I gotta go before there's a fucking bloodbath in here."

As she walked away, Izzy could hear Aria laughing. She found Zaeed, Vido and James in a corner, glaring at each other. Or rather, Zaeed was doing his best to kill both of them with a look; they were only defending themselves.

_This is going to be a fucking disaster_, Izzy thought to herself. She crossed her arms and glared at James and Vido. "Well?"

"We have decided, as you suggested, to call a truce," James said. "At least until the war is over."

"You're a bloody idiot, Vega," Zaeed said. "I guarantee that jackass will stab you in the back and then twist the fucking knife."

Izzy rolled her eyes. "Zani, if you're not going to be helpful, go away."

"No. You have no idea-"

"_I_ have no idea?" she growled. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Can I say something?" Vido snapped.

"No," Zaeed said.

Izzy put her hand over his mouth then looked at Vido. "Talk."

He hesitated. She looked at Zaeed and James. "Give us a minute."

Zaeed moved her hand from his mouth. "No."

"Is that your word of the day, Zani? I didn't say you had to leave... just... go to the bar or something."

"No."

She looked at James. "A little help here?"

James shook his head. "I'll leave but you're insane if you think I'm getting anywhere near Massani when he's this pissed off."

"Why me?" Izzy muttered. "Why am I always surrounded by stubborn jackasses?" She sighed. "Fine. You won't leave? Then we will." She looked at Zaeed. "Don't think I won't put you in stasis if you try to follow me."

Once they were settled at a table a little ways from where Zaeed and James sat, the former staring daggers at them, Izzy turned to Vido. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"Nothing. Just wanted to get away from Massani."

_Men._ "I would so slap you right now," she said with a smirk. "But the last person I slapped was Vosque and... we all saw how that turned out." She paused for a moment. "Zani thinks that was all you."

He frowned. "That _what_ was all me?"

"He thinks _you_ sent that creep after me, so it would play out the way it did, to draw me in or something. I dunno. I stopped listening after awhile."

"What the hell would make him think I would ever do something like that?"

"Because you've done it before," she said quietly.

"Pritchard."

She nodded. "So what changed? I'm not saying I think you were behind Vosque's act, because believe me, we would not be sitting here if I did."

He looked down at the table a moment before he looked at her again. "It's not... it wasn't them. They're not all that different from each other. It's you. Even though you'd been gone for nine years, to me you were still the brat that ruined my life, just all grown up. I didn't want you dead but I also didn't care what happened to you otherwise."

"And now you do?"

"Yes."

Izzy didn't quite know how to respond to that. Finally she settled on, "Then will you please tell your commanders to quit referring to me as 'Vido's brat'?"

Vido chuckled. "This is a common occurrence?"

"More common than I'd like, yes. When I was with Cerberus, I can't even begin to count how many times the mercs we ran into were Suns."

"Fine. From now on, you'll be known as-"

"Commander Shepard," she said firmly.

He raised an eyebrow. "So you've abandoned your birth name altogether?"

"Not entirely, no. There are only four people who commonly use my first name... sort of. I dunno if James counts because he hasn't called me anything but Lola since we were about 12. Emilio and Zani call me Izzy. Always have, always will."

"And me?"

Izzy smiled. "You can call me Isadora."


	25. The Cure

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* * *

By the time the Normandy made it back to the Citadel to drop off Jack and the kids from Grissom Academy, Liara had been released from the hospital. As a welcome-back gift, Izzy had arranged for Feron to set up Liara's Shadow Broker equipment in Miranda's old quarters. And as a surprise, she'd also arranged for him to remain on the ship permanently.

As soon as they'd picked up Liara, the Normandy was off again, to the salarian homeworld of Sur'Kesh to pick up fertile female krogan. The plan was to attempt a cure for the genophage, Wrex's demand before he would send his troops to Palaven to aid the turians. Unfortunately, the planned simple pick-up was anything but simple. Cerberus interfered with their own plan to take the female krogan, resulting in Wrex being one _very_ pissed off krogan by the time they headed to Tuchunka.

In Izzy's opinion, the only upside to the trip to Sur'Kesh was that Mordin was back on the Normandy. But a week later, he was dead. It was the topper on the shit cake that had been the mission to Tuchunka.

After the genophage cure had been distributed and physical wounds had been tended to, Izzy and James stood with Wrex and Eve in the place where, many many years before, Wrex had killed his father.

"A toast," Izzy said, holding a glass of ryncol. "To three brave and noble men who died before their time, in the pursuit of peace between the turians and krogan. To Lt. Tarquin Victus..."

"Lt. Victus," the others responded.

"To Urdnot Wreav..."

"Wreav."

"And-" Izzy's voice caught in her throat and James squeezed her hand. "To Dr. Mordin Solis. May you find the seashells you seek on the beaches of heaven."

"Mordin."

Everyone except Eve kept drinking long after the toast. Once he started seeing doubles of his glass, James stopped, and it turned into a drinking contest between Wrex and Izzy. A call was made to the Normandy and soon enough, bets were being placed by the crew on who was going to win. Everyone except Cortez bet against Izzy winning. And when it was finally over, with Wrex crashing to the ground with half a glass left, Cortez won big.

"I'm gon' remember this," Izzy said to James as he carried her into the elevator on the Normandy.

"Remember what, Lola?" he asked.

She scratched her head. "I don' 'member. Somethin' bad. You did."

"Uh huh."

"Yup. You're in trouble."

He smirked. "I look forward to the punishment."

"I know," she said as they reached the top floor. "You... los' me."

James chuckled. "I did what now?"

"You. Los'. Me." She poked him in the chest with each word.

He kissed her and put her in bed, crawling in beside her. "Sleep, Lola. We'll talk tomorrow."

She tried to protest but she was asleep before the first syllable reached her lips.

* * *

When the alarm went off a few hours later, Izzy rolled over and swore loudly as she rolled off the bed and hit the floor with a _thunk_.

"Lola? You OK, _chica_?" James asked as he looked over the side of the bed.

"Laugh and you die," she groaned as she attempted to sit up. The attempt failed and she settled for rolling onto her back.

"I wouldn't _dream_ of laughing at you, _mi amor_," he said with a wide grin on his face. "How do you feel?"

She put an arm over her eyes. "Tell the fuckers who are doing a jig on my skull to stop and I might be able to tell you."

"What do you remember about last night?" he said as he sat on the floor and carefully pulled her into a sitting position and into his lap.

"Too goddamn much." She closed her eyes and rested her head against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. "Will you promise me something, James?"  
He kissed the top of her head. "Anything, Lola."

"Next time I suggest a drinking contest with Wrex, shoot me."


	26. True Colors

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* * *

Something was wrong. There was no one answering Joker's landing requests in Citadel Control or his hails on any other frequency. Finally, he reached Bailey and put him through to Izzy.

"Bailey, what's happening?"

"It's Cerberus, trying to take over the station."

"Shit. Are you safe?" Izzy could hear gunfire in the background.

"Not exactly," Bailey said after a moment. "I'm fighting at the front of C-Sec HQ."

"James, Garrus and I will meet you there. But, we need to find Councilor Valern."

"He's not with the rest of the Council?"

"No. I was supposed to be meeting him in the Spectre office in about fifteen minutes, so he'll probably still be somewhere near you."

"OK. I'll try to find him and get him to safety, or find out his location and call you."

"Thank you. We'll see you in a few minutes."

They heard an explosion before they were within sight of C-Sec. Izzy pushed the shuttle to its limits and landed it as quickly as she could. As they ran up the steps, Bailey came over the radio.

"I got pinned down inside my office. You'll have to find the Councilor yourself, Shepard. Cerberus is crawling all over the station, so please, be careful."

"No promises."

Twenty minutes later, Izzy found herself flying through a shattered window and landing between Valern and a sword-wielding assassin.

_Who the fuck carries a sword?_ she wondered as James and Garrus ran down the stairs behind her. "Take the Councilor upstairs to the Executor's office. I'll deal with this asshole."

"Alone?" James and Garrus asked incredulously.

"Go!" The look on the Commander's face left no room for argument.

James and Garrus reluctantly turned and walked back up the stairs, the Councilor between them. "Councilor, the Commander told us that you had requested a meeting to discuss possible illegal activities by our own Councilor Udina." James said once they were back in the relative safety of the Executor's office.

"Yes, that is correct. He has been moving large sums of money around and taking meetings with persons suspected of being involved with Cerberus."

"Damn. So he would be their inside man."

"Precisely."

Suddenly, a single shot rang out across the cavernous space. James and Garrus looked at each other. They both knew one of them had to stay with the Councilor until Bailey arrived. Garrus, being a Spectre himself, was the obvious choice.

James jumped out of the window and took off across the lounge. At the bottom of the steps, he skidded to a stop as he saw Izzy sitting against the wall. In one hand, she was holding her Eagle pistol; a weaving blood trail started about halfway across the room at about where the pistol was pointed and ended at the edge of the carport. In her other hand, Izzy was clutching what James recognized as the broken bottom half of the assassin's blade, covered in blood. Izzy's blood.

"Lola? Babe, talk to me," James said as he knelt down in front of her, checking for any other injuries.

"What happened?" Garrus asked over the comm.

"Assassin's gone, but apparently Shepard got him good, because there's a trail of blood leading off the end of the carport landing. And she's got half of his blade in her hand, covered in blood."

"Spirits," Garrus muttered. "How's Shepard?"

"She's-"

"I'm fine," Izzy said with a wince. "Son of a bitch punched me in the face when I dodged the wrong direction, but other that, he didn't touch me. As for the blood on the blade, yes it's mine. He swung at me, so I stupidly grabbed the damn thing and broke the blade."

James muttered a litany of curses in Spanish as he pulled out the med kit and carefully patched her up.

"You need to go to the hospital, Lola," he said as he wrapped a bandage around her hand.

She shook her head slightly. "Not yet. Not 'til I know the other Councilors are safe."

"Shepard, if you insist on going on," Valern said over the comm. "I've got some information you need to see. I'm sending it to your omni-tool."

"Thank you, Councilor. I _have_ to go; Alenko doesn't know about the assassin. It's the only way to keep Tevos and Sparatus safe."

"Good luck, Commander."

* * *

"Persistent little fuck," Izzy muttered minutes later as she and James ran into the assassin, being held up by two of his men.

"Better luck next time, Shepard," the man sneered as he stepped into the elevator and the doors closed.

"_Mierda_. Bailey? You still with us?" Izzy asked over the comm.

"I'm here, Shepard. What do you need?"

"An elevator. Now!"

"Got it. How do you feel about riding on the maintenance platform?"

"Whatever. As long as I'm going in the direction of the Council, I'm good."

After a harrowing ride up the elevator shaft, jumping from car to car to get to the Councilors, Izzy and James slipped through the maintenance hatch and into the last car. The doors opened and they found themselves staring down the barrel of Kaidan's gun.

"Alenko, your gun is pointed at the wrong person," Izzy said as she stepped out of the elevator. "I'm not the enemy here."

Kaidan eyed her with disdain. "Yeah, right. Cerberus invades the Citadel and here you are, ready to take out the Council."

"Dammit, Alenko, for the millionth time, I'm not working for Cerberus!"

He appeared not to have heard her. "Stand down, Shepard," he said. "Don't make me shoot you."

"Do it!" Udina hissed from behind him. "She's nothing but trouble. And she won't hesitate to shoot you."

"He's got that right," Izzy growled. "And no, I will not stand down, Alenko. I've got proof-"

"Bullshit!" Udina said. "She never has legitimate proof."

"Alenko, listen to me. Udina must be stopped."

"Stand down," Kaidan repeated.

"No."

"So be it," he said, leveling his gun at Izzy's chest. "Good-bye, Shep-"

Before he finished his sentence, a gunshot rang out and he fell to the ground, dead with a bullet in his skull. Seconds later, another shot and Udina was dead as well.

At the first shot, Izzy had lunged towards Tevos, James towards Sparatus. As Udina's body fell with the second shot, Izzy looked down at Tevos.

"You're blee- oh shit." Izzy realized too late that asari blood was not red. She looked down at her own torso but saw no injury.

"It's here," James said as he pressed a large hand against her left arm, just below the shoulder. "We gotta get you out of here, Shepard."

She shook her head. "Can't leave. Assassin-"

"You are the most stubborn..." James trailed off. "Whoever that was, they sure as hell weren't the assassin who was after Valern," he said. "That one tried to kill you, remember?"

"Still. A sniper," Izzy said hoarsely. She'd lost a lot of blood already and this newest injury wasn't helping things. "A sniper is never good news."

"_You_ are a sniper, Shepard," James said with a smirk.

"My point exactly."

"Go, Commander," Sparatus insisted. "We'll be fine."

Medi-gel," Izzy said, ignoring the turian Councilor. "I'll be fine with medi-gel."

"We don't have any," James said. "Used it all on your hand."

"Shit."

The elevator doors opened again and James and Izzy resumed covering the Councilors. To their immense relief, it was Bailey and some of his men, along with Garrus and Valern.

"You've done your duty, Shepard," Tevos said. "Now let someone else do theirs."


	27. Not the Man I Thought He Was

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* * *

Izzy was sitting on a bed in Huerta Memorial, being lectured by Dr. Michel as the doc stitched the long cut on her hand and applied medi-gel to the bullet wound in her arm. The Commander had absolutely _no_ idea what the woman was saying, having tuned her out half an hour before, but she imagined it was much the same as the numerous lectures she'd gotten over the years from Dr. Chakwas. Instead, she was going over the events of the day in her mind. The Cerberus assassin didn't bother her nearly as much as the unknown sniper. Whoever they were, their timing and aim were impeccable. The only two snipers she knew who were that good were Garrus, who had been with Valern at the time, and... Zaeed.

As if on cue, her uncle came storming into the room, James on his heels, trying to pull him back.

"What the bloody hell were you thinking," Zaeed growled. "Jumping out of a second-story window and then fighting an assassin, alone?"

He ignored Dr. Michel's protests of "this is a hospital, not an interrogation center" and glared at Izzy.

"Well, hello to you too," she said casually. She looked at James. "You _suck_ as a bouncer."

James shrugged. "Sorry, Lola. Like I told you before, I don't interfere with a pissed-off Massani."

Zaeed cleared his throat and Izzy looked back to him and rolled her eyes. "I was thinking 'Holy shit, there's an assassin about to go after one of the Councilors. Maybe I should stop him,'" she said. "And I at least slowed him down. If I'd done nothing, the fucker would have killed Valern and then gone on to kill the rest of them as well."

"That's not the point, baby girl," Zaeed said. "It's the 'alone' part I'm worried about. You have a squad for a reason. Use them."

"In our defense," James said. "Garrus and I did protest. Didn't do a damn bit of good."

"Of course not. She never listens to anyone."

"She certainly never listens to her doctors," Dr. Michel quipped. "Alright, Commander, I'm done. Take it easy the next few days, OK?"

"I'll try," Izzy said with a smile.

James helped her off the bed and they walked out of the room, Zaeed close behind. At the elevator, Izzy turned to him. "Zani, where were you during the coup?"

"Down in Purgatory, fighting with Aria."

"Fighting with Aria?"

"Alongside her, whatever. Fighting Cerberus troops." He raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Izzy's response was interrupted by a message from Traynor. "Gotta go. Hackett wants a word apparently."

"Rough day, Shepard?" Hackett asked when Izzy made it into the comm room fifteen minutes later.

"Seemed pretty typical to me, sir. Aside from getting shot by my former LT and watching him get shot in the head."

"Any idea who the sniper was?"

"No, sir. The only two possibilities I came up with couldn't have been the shooter. Garrus was with the salarian Councilor and I confirmed with Aria that Massani was with her in Purgatory."

"Could it have been a Cerberus operative, taking out Udina when he was no longer useful?"

"Possibly, but if that was the case, why stop at Udina and Alenko? Why not the other Councilors and myself and Vega?"

Hackett nodded. "Point taken."

"Anything else, sir?" Izzy asked tentatively. It really had been a rough day and she wanted nothing more than a hot shower and sleep.

"Actually, yes. Shore leave."

"Sir?"

"I received a report from Dr. Michel about your injuries. She indicated that it would be best if you took a few days off. I quite agree. I need you at your best. And I'm ordering the Normandy into dry-dock for a few days as well. She's seen as much heavy fighting as you have, Shepard. She needs repairs."

"Yes, sir."

"I'll leave it to you to figure out how to pry Lt. Moreau and Lt. Adams away from the ship," Hackett said with a hint of laughter in his voice. "In the meantime, Admiral Anderson left you his apartment in Tiberius Towers."

"Wow. That's... incredible."

"Enjoy your time off, Commander. Hackett out."

* * *

_Twenty-Four Hours Later..._

"You sure you don't mind?" Izzy asked as she looked through her civvies, trying to find something decent to wear.

"I'm positive, Lola," James said from where he sat on the bed across the room. "Esteban and I are gonna hit the arcade."

"You really are one of a kind, James. Most men would be getting all bent out of shape if their girlfriend-"

"Fiancée."

"Fiancée," she grinned, blowing him a kiss, "was going on a date with another man."

"I have no reason not to trust you, Lola," he said. He got up and stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her as she stood in front of the mirror. "Also, Fly Boy knows I can break him in half with a look," he added with a cheeky grin.

An hour later, Izzy suddenly found herself lying on her back amidst dying fish and shards of broken glass from the sushi restaurant's aquarium. Dinner with Joker had not gone as planned. Though Izzy supposed it actually _had_ gone according to _someone's_ plan, as she thought he'd invited her and vise versa.

"Why me?" she muttered as she carefully sat up and checked for any major injuries. Surprisingly, she seemed to have made it out relatively unscathed except for a few shards of glass embedded in various places and what she hoped was only a _sprained_ ankle. She couldn't afford another broken bone.

Izzy very carefully got to her feet and began slowly limping along as she clung to the wall for support, trying to keep an eye out for mercs. She was low on ammo, completely out of medi-gel and her ankle was becoming unbearably painful.

Suddenly, a hand shot out from a darkened alcove she'd just passed and dragged her into it. She cried out in surprise and pain as her back hit a heavily-armored chest and a second hand covered her mouth. She bit down hard. A litany of curses followed but the hand remained where it was.

"Goddamn it, Isadora," Vido growled. "You really need to learn some new moves. Now be a good girl and don't scream. You do and I swear I'll just hand you over to these asshats."

Izzy nodded and he tentatively pulled his hand away from her mouth.

"Next time you do that, I'm actually going to have a fucking heart attack just to spite you," she said as she gingerly turned to face him.

"I'll keep that in mind," he said with a chuckle.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I was in the area. I saw the mercs, heard your name mentioned. Why are _you_ all the way down here?"

"Fell. I was standing over the fish tank at that sushi place about three floors up. Mercs stormed the place, took a shot at me then shot the floor out from under me."

"Christ," Vido muttered. "Where's Vega?"

"Arcade. I was on a 'date' with my pilot. Apparently it was a trap set by the mercs."

"Interesting... why didn't I ever think of that?" Vido said with a smirk.

Izzy punched him in the arm and winced. "Do you always walk around the Citadel in..." she trailed off as she noticed the weapons he was wearing, particularly the sniper rifle. Her eyes went wide with realization. "Holy shit!" she whispered. "It was _you_."

He raised an eyebrow. "What was me?"

"Yesterday, on the landing pad. You were the sniper."

"No idea what you're talking about, Isadora."

"Play innocent all you want," she said with a grin. "I know it was you. And thanks."

"You're not upset they're dead are you?"

Izzy scoffed. "Fuck no. Udina has been on my Most Hated list for years now. And Alenko was a jackass."

"You weren't really going to let him shoot you, were you?"

"Do I look stupid?" She glared at him. "Don't answer that."

"Lola? You OK?" James asked suddenly over the comm. "Joker just came hobbling into the arcade, saying something about mercs and said you fell through a fish tank and-"

"Breathe, James," she said with a laugh. "I'm fine."

"You sure? You don't sound fine."

"Little, OK lotta bit in pain, but I'll live."

"Pain? How bad?"

"Sprained ankle is about the extent of new injuries, though the ones from yesterday aren't feeling any better after this."

"You need help? Where are you?"

"Somewhere below the sushi place.I'm-" She glanced at Vido. The two men may have had a truce but she knew James was still very wary of her father. "I'll be OK."

"Cortez and I are in a shuttle looking for you."

"I think I saw a used skycar lot across from where I am, if that helps."

"See you in a bit then. Be careful, Lola."

When the comm disconnected, Izzy tentatively tried to step out of the alcove and her ankle protested by giving out on her. She yelped as she fell back against the wall and slid to the ground.

Vido crouched in front of her. "You're not going anywhere."

She glared at him. "Is that a threat?"

He rolled his eyes. "No, it's a goddamn fact. There's no way you're going to get to the skycar lot or anywhere close to it, with your ankle in that condition."

Her head fell back against the wall. "You know, it's _really_ irritating when you two do that."

"When who does what?"

"You and Zani. When you make valid arguments against doing something."

He chuckled.

"So what do you propose we do now?" Izzy asked. "If I show up anywhere with you, one or both of us is going to get shot."

"Agreed. You have medi-gel?"

She shook her head. "If I did, I'd be moving a hell of a lot faster than I am."

"Point taken." He pulled a small first aid kit from his pocket, along with a knife. He cut her boot and sock off and applied medi-gel to her swollen and bruised ankle before wrapping it tightly.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

Izzy took a deep breath. "Not that I don't appreciate this change of late, but if you wanted to be all protective and actually act like a dad, why didn't you do it when I was a kid? Was it _really_ all because of Carrie's death?"

Vido didn't say anything or look at her for awhile. When he did, she saw his usual arrogant nature falter and some vulnerability take its place. "At first, yes, it was. I was bitter about losing the only woman I'd ever loved. Eventually, it really had nothing to do with you and everything to do with Massani. I know you don't remember, but I tried to get close to you when you were little, but he wouldn't allow it."

"So that night in the alley?" she asked quietly.

"The fight was real and most of the reason for it, but what I told you back then was true. He _had_ turned against me, and he'd turned _you_ against me. It was... the only way I could think to get him away from you without sending you away."

"Then why the fuck did you shoot me?" Izzy growled.

He sighed. "I didn't."

"Excuse me? Then why the hell did you tell me you did?"

"_I_ never told you that, Isadora. I only went along with it at the time because it was convenient."

"Then why didn't you come after me? You just... left me to fend for myself?"

"If I thought there was a chance that I could have fixed all the damage of the previous nine years, I would have. But Massani had you so terrified of me that I knew even if I took you home, you'd just run away the second you got the chance."

There was one last question Izzy needed the answer to, the one that had been bothering her above anything else. But before she could ask, James came over the comm again.

"Lola? We're at the skycar lot. Where are you?"

"I'm in an alcove across the way. I'll be out in a second." She looked at Vido. "This isn't over. I... have more questions. But I need to figure out who's trying to kill me first."

He nodded as he stood up and carefully pulled her to her feet. "You know where to find me when you want to talk."

She smirked. "Yeah. Right around the corner waiting to give me a fucking heart attack."


	28. Truce?

**A/N: Ch. 1 has been tweaked a bit to accommodate a couple of details in this chapter.  
Beta: ****pixelatrix****  
****Thanks for the review ****and new favs and follow**** :)  
Bioware owns all recognized characters. If you don't recognize them, they're probably mine.**

* * *

"A clone, a fight through the Archives, a stolen warship... I don't think this is what Hackett and Dr. Michel had in mind when they told me to take a few days off," Izzy said she limped along the corridor to her apartment, holding onto James for support.

"Been one of the most interesting shore leaves I've ever taken, that's for sure," James said. "Think he'll let us take a couple of extra days?"

"I don't see why not," she said with a shrug. "The Normandy never actually got the repairs she was supposed to be getting, what with the damn clone kicking everyone off the ship and then taking-" She stopped dead in her tracks as she saw two familiar figures standing outside her front door, guns drawn on each other.

"What is this fuckery?" James asked. "How do _either_ of them know where your apartment is, or even that you have one?"

Izzy shook her head. "I have no fucking clue." She whistled. "Oi! Morons with the guns. What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

Vido and Zaeed turned at the sound of her voice.

"Put the guns away," she said firmly. "Though I am glad you're both here. We need to have one hell of a long chat."

"He's playing you, Izzy," Zaeed said.

Izzy shrugged as she punched in the door code and let them in. "Maybe. But after earlier, and especially after yesterday, I don't think I care."

"What happened earlier?"

She didn't answer as she took his gun and Vido's and gave them to James. "Lock these up." She unhooked her pistol and handed it to him. "Better take mine too, in case I suddenly get the urge to shoot one or both of them."

"Well?" Zaeed asked impatiently as James walked up the stairs and out of sight.

She pushed the two men to opposite couches and sat in the recliner, propping her injured ankle up. "We had a long talk, with a lot of interesting revelations, while I was waiting for a shuttle to come pick me up." She looked at Vido. "The mercs who were running all over the place? They worked for my clone."

"You have a clone?" Vido asked.

"Not anymore," Izzy said with a grin.

"So now you're just taking everything he says at face value?" Zaeed growled.

"Not necessarily, but he has saved my life twice in the last week and a half."

"That doesn't make him any less of a liar, Izzy. And _when_?"

"Vosque. Then yesterday during coup. And I guess you can tack on earlier too. If he hadn't been there, I'd probably have been completely destroyed by those mercs." She sighed. "OK, here's the deal. I need answers. The absolute truth. From _both_ of you."

Vido frowned. "About what?"

James came back then and Izzy pulled him down in the chair with her. "Everything. My entire life it seems has been one big jumble of lies. It has to stop. Otherwise, I just..." Her words trailed off as she laid her head on James' shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her.

No one spoke again for a good five minutes. Finally, Izzy decided to ask the question she'd meant to ask before but hadn't gotten the chance.

"Why Tobias?" she asked quietly, looking at Vido. "Why, if everything you told me before was true, why did you kill Tobias?"

"Would you believe me if I said it wasn't me?" Vido asked.

"No," Zaeed and James said simultaneously.

"Probably not, but go ahead," Izzy said.

"I fully admit to bombing the church," Vido said. "But that was it. I knew you would come back to San Diego to check on Tobias. But I never intended to kill him. I never intended for _anything_ to happen to him."

"Except make him homeless," Izzy snarled. "So, assuming I believe you, what really happened to Tobias?"

"I have no idea."

Zaeed laughed harshly. "Bullshit."

"It's the goddamn truth," Vido growled. He looked Izzy straight in the eye. "I had absolutely nothing to do with it and I don't know who did."

"Fine. I suppose I believe you." She sighed. "Now, you two are going to sit here and explain the origins of this fucking feud. And why the fuck you decided to drag me into the middle of it."

"It started long before you were born," Vido said. "We had been friends for a long time, because of Carrie. We were in the same class in school, Massani was three years ahead. Carrie and I started dating in our sophomore year. I dropped out a year later and started doing jobs for people. That was the origins of the Suns. By the time Carrie graduated, we were talking about getting married. But Massani didn't approve. At all."

Izzy frowned and looked at Zaeed. "If you didn't approve, then why did you give him the ring?"

Vido raised an eyebrow. "You know about the ring?"

She nodded and pulled up the chain with her dog-tags, the ring clinking against them.

"I wondered where the hell that went. I haven't seen it since-"

"Since the day I was born," Izzy said quietly.

"Exact-" Vido turned and glared at Zaeed. "You took it?"

"I never wanted you to have it in the first place," Zaeed said fiercely. "I only ever gave it to you because I knew it would make Carrie happy. That's the only reason I 'approved' of your marriage to begin with."

"Why didn't you approve of the marriage?" Izzy asked tentatively.

"Because I thought they were too young. And because I thought he pressured her into getting married."

"For the record, I didn't," Vido said. "Isadora, how did _you_ get the ring?"

James finally spoke up. "Massani gave it to me, about eight months ago."

"Congratulations. Can I assume it was because he thought it would piss me off and not because Isadora would want it."

"It was kind of both, actually," Izzy said with a grin "I wanted it _because_ it would piss you off."

"I see."

She ignored the urge to punch him for using that damn phrase. Instead she turned back to Zaeed. "Why exactly did you decide to basically take me away from Vido and raise me yourself?"

"He didn't want anything to do with you, Izzy."

"That's a goddamn lie," Vido growled. "Tell her the real reason, Massani."

Zaeed sighed and looked at Izzy. "Carrie died and Vido took off. Immediately. Just... gone. So I was left to take care of you until he got back. But when he finally came back, three months later, he was focused on the work the Suns were doing, not you. So I decided then that he didn't want anything to do with you and I took you away."

"And when he actually showed an interest in me, why did you keep him away?"

"I don't know. It didn't seem like it would last and I didn't want you getting your hopes up only to have him turn away again."

Izzy didn't say anything. Then James spoke up again. "You were both in the First Contact War, right? That's what Tobias said, that that's how you knew Hackett."

Zaeed nodded. "We were, yes."

"So... if both of you were gone, who did Izzy stay with?"

Izzy perked up. She'd been wondering the same thing herself.

"I took her to your parents' house, actually."

"_What_?" Izzy and James exclaimed together.

"Josh and I had been friends at school, before he turned into a giant drug-addicted jackass. No offense."

"None taken," James growled. "So you _knew_ what Josh was like. Is like. And yet you thought it was a good idea to leave Izzy with him?"

"Didn't have much of a choice, to be honest," Zaeed said after a minute. "He was damn near the only person I knew who wasn't going to war. Besides, from what I remember your mother telling me when I came back, he was gone most of the time anyway."

Izzy leaned back to look at James. "Do you remember any of that? Because I sure as hell don't."

James shook his head. "Nope. First time I remember seeing you, up close anyway, was the day we met when we were ten."

Izzy turned back to Vido again. "Explain Pritchard. Again."

He hesitated a moment before replying. "You had just turned 18 and I knew there was a possibility you would leave once you graduated. So I came back to Earth because I wanted to bring you into the Suns."

"So you mentioned," she said.

"Pritchard wanted to get into the Suns. And he knew you."

Izzy rolled her eyes. "Only because he'd been basically stalking me for two years, trying to get me to join the Reds."

"Well, I didn't _know_ that, Isadora. He was only supposed to bring you in. That's it. Not..."

"Yeah."

Once again, silence fell. Then Izzy looked at Vido and Zaeed. "You hate each other. Whatever. But leave me the fuck out of it."

The two men said nothing and glared at each other.

"Stubborn jackasses," Izzy muttered as she carefully stood up and walked over to stand between the couches. "If you're too stubborn to own up to the fact that this feud has gone on for _far_ longer than it should, then will you at least call a truce until the war is over?"

They both rolled their eyes and continued on in silence.

She sighed. "If you won't do it because it's the right fucking thing to do, then will you do it for me? Please?"

They looked up at her in surprise but nodded.

"First the krogan and turians, now these two?" James quipped. "What impossible feat will you perform next, Lola? Uniting the quarians and the geth?"


	29. Nightmares

**Beta: ****pixelatrix****  
****Thanks for the review :)  
Bioware owns all recognized characters. If you don't recognize them, they're probably mine.**

* * *

Izzy woke with a start, drenched in a cold sweat. The dream she'd been having had seemed so real. She panicked for a moment when she realized the spot next to her in bed was empty, wondering if the dream... _nightmare_... actually had been real, before she remembered James had stayed up to work on modifying her sniper rifle before the meeting with the quarians.

She threw on her N7 hoodie over her tank top and pajama pants and went down to the shuttle bay to see James. When she arrived, she found James and Cortez deep in conversation so she decided not to disturb them and instead opened a chat with her father.

* * *

_Inter-Relay Text Chat  
_

_Location: Rannoch  
_

_From: Isadora Santiago  
_

_To: Vido Santiago  
_

_02:00 IS: Are you still alive?  
_

_02:02 VS: Last time I checked. That's one hell of a question for 0200, Isadora._

_02:03 IS: I know._

_02:10 VS: Isadora? What's wrong?_

_02:11 IS: It's... nothing._

_02:12 VS: Obviously it's not nothing. Talk to me._

_02:14 IS: You're gonna think it's stupid._

_02:15 VS: Well you're just going to have to take that chance._

_02:17 IS: I had a nightmare. You and Zani were in a fight. James was in the middle of it. All three of you ended up dead._

_02:18 IS: So I just wanted to make sure it really was just a dream._

_02:19 VS: I see._

_02:20 IS: Ugh. Can't you people ever say anything else other than 'I see'?_

_02:21 VS: No._

_02:22 VS: You know nothing like that will ever happen in reality._

_02:24 IS: No, Dad, I don't know that._

_02:25 VS: We're different than we were a year ago._

_02:26 IS: The two of us may have a very different relationship than we did a year ago, but you and Zani, that will always be the same. _

_02:27 IS: That truce between you two? I'm not stupid. I know the moment the Reapers are defeated, assuming you both survive, you'll be back to hunting each other. It won't end until one or both of you is dead._

_02:28 VS: I doubt I can convince you of this with words, but for my part, that truce doesn't end when the war does. _

_02:29 IS: And Zani? What if he doesn't feel the same way?_

_02:30 VS: You know I can't answer that, Isadora. You'll have to talk to him yourself._

_02:31 IS: This has not helped me forget the nightmare._

_02:32 VS: Sorry._

_02:35 VS: I thought you said you gave up being Isadora Santiago._

_02:37 IS: That was... random. I didn't give it up really, but there have been very very few situations in the last 14 years in which the name Carrie Shepard has been used in its entirety. Sometimes I actually forget that Shepard has a first name. Besides, it felt weird using that name with you. I've always been Isadora to you. _

_02:38 VS: And you always will be. _

_02:40 IS: I gotta go. Need more sleep. Early meeting with the quarians._

_02:40 User has disconnected._

* * *

_Not again. Please, God, not again._ Part of the severely damaged docking tube Izzy was standing on broke off and she was suddenly back in those terrifying moments over Alchera, after she'd shut Joker in the escape pod. Floating alone in space, listening to the air leaking from her suit. Her last thoughts on James and...

"Lola? Are you OK? You stopped talking mid-sentence."

Izzy's boots finally hit the solid part of the docking tube and she slowly remembered how to breathe. "T-the docking tube. Broke. I'm... I'm OK. I think."

"Are you sure?"

"Not at all, but I have to keep telling myself I am, otherwise I literally can't put one foot in front of the other."

"Let me help."

"How?"

"Keep talking to me until you get to the airlock. Just keep talking, as long as you need."

"So in other words, you are trying to get me to avoid the issue," Izzy said. "That thing you are _always_ complaining that I do."

"Exactly."

What James' plan for distraction was, Izzy didn't find out. Instead, Garrus broke into the conversation.

"Hey Shepard. I need some advice."

"About?"

"Women."

Izzy laughed. "First piece of advice: don't ask for advice about women when your girlfriend is standing right next to you."

"She's not."

"What? Why not?"

"She's in the airlock, I'm in the cockpit with Joker."

"You... you're not coming? She's coming in alone?"

"Of course not."

"Then who-"

"I told Vega to take my place."

Izzy stopped halfway up the ladder she was on. "Garrus, has anyone ever told you how sweet you are?"

He chuckled. "It may have been mentioned once or twice in the past."

"So what did you need advice on?"

"Advice? Oh that. Nothing. Just needed something to talk about while Vega was putting his armor on."

"Sneaky little..." Izzy muttered. "I'm in. I'll be at the airlock in a minute."

"OK. EDI's switching comms now."

"Hey Garrus?"

"Yes, Shepard?"

"Thanks."


	30. Moved

**Author's Note: I have moved Izzy and Zani to AO3. It will be finished at some point there (as well as an alternate version).**

**Thank you to all the people who reviewed, favorited and followed :) I appreciate you all.**

**-CG**


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